Disease

Zulay Balza, right, recovering from Guillain-Barre syndrome in February at a hospital in Colombia. Ms. Balza did not show symptoms of the Zika virus; only one in five infected people do. Credit Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

CLICK HERE - NEJM - Zika Virus and the Guillain–Barré Syndrome — Case Series from Seven Countries

nytimes.com - by Catherine Saint Louis - August 31, 2016

In seven countries that recently experienced Zika outbreaks, there were also sharp increases in the numbers of people suffering from a form of temporary paralysis, researchers reported Wednesday.

The analysis, published online in The New England Journal of Medicine, adds to substantial evidence that Zika infections — even asymptomatic ones — may bring on a paralysis called Guillain-Barré syndrome.

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Rules for distribution of mosquito repellent to women and girls on Medicaid can make getting it difficult, as rest of gulf coast similarly lags behind spread of virus

theguardian.com - Jessica Glenza and Nicole Puglise - August 26, 2016

Attempts to provide poor, pregnant women in Texas with mosquito repellent to avoid possible Zika infections are off to a slow start.

Two weeks after the state announced that mosquito repellent would be given out to women and girls on Medicaid, only 1,200 cans have been distributed, equivalent to less than 1% of the roughly 134,000 pregnant women eligible for the product.

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CLICK HERE - Texas Health and Human Services Commission - Texas Becomes First State to Issue Standing Order for Mosquito Repellent to Fight Zika - August 15, 2016

CLICK HERE - Texas Health and Human Services Commission - Medicaid Will Pay for Mosquito Repellent to Fight Zika - August 3, 2016

Dr. Angela Rocha shows brain scans of a baby born with microcephaly at the Oswaldo Cruz Hospital in Recife, Brazil.  FELIPE DANA/AP

CLICK HERE - NEJM - Prolonged Shedding of Zika Virus Associated with Congenital Infection

CLICK HERE - Radiology - Congenital Brain Abnormalities and Zika Virus: What the Radiologist Can Expect to See Prenatally and Postnatally

statnews.com - by Helen Branswell - August 24, 2016

A new report from Brazil raises questions about whether the Zika virus can continue to damage an infected infant’s brain after birth.

An infant in Sao Paulo whose mother was infected late in her second trimester was born without any visible birth defects. But testing showed the baby had the Zika virus in his blood; the virus remained in his system for at least a couple of months.

At six months, it became apparent that the child had suffered Zika-related brain damage.

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Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Zika Virus Infects Neural Progenitors in the Adult Mouse Brain and Alters Proliferation

New research has found evidence the mosquito-borne virus can adversely affect cells necessary for replenishing damaged neurons.

theatlantic.com - by Marina Koren - August 19, 2016

Zika is understood to pose the greatest threat to pregnant women and their fetuses, which can be born with severe brain defects if infected with the mosquito-borne virus. But new research suggests Zika may damage adult brains, too, giving scientists another thread to follow in their attempts to understand the virus as the number of infections continues to rise in South America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

U.S. researchers have found evidence that a certain kind of brain cell present in newborns that remains in some amounts in adulthood can be susceptible to Zika infection, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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