The Zika Virus

[Kaitzilla]

Panic is starting to spread a bit over this, so I thought I'd start a thread.

As near as I can tell, if a pregnant woman gets Zika, then there is a 1%? chance her baby will be born with microcephaly. (shrunken head, it's horrifying )

The crisis started in Brazil where there have been 1.5 million Zika infections and 4000 microcephaly babies, up from 150 such babies in 2014.
It spreads by mosquito bites.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35368401
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-brazil-exclusive-idUSKCN0VA331

The Zika emergency comes at a particularly bad time for President Dilma Rousseff's unpopular government, adding a new burden to a public health system hit by budget cuts in the midst of a severe recession. It has also cast a shadow on Brazil's hosting of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

The Rousseff government said there was no chance the Games will be called due to the health scare.

"We have to explain to those coming to Brazil, the athletes, that there is zero risk if you are not a pregnant woman," Rousseff's chief of staff Jaques Wagner told reporters.

The Brazilian government suspects the virus was brought to Brazil during the 2014 soccer World Cup by a visitor from Africa or Oceania where Zika is endemic. An estimated 1.5 million Brazilians have caught Zika, a virus first detected in Africa in the 1947 and unknown in the Americas until it appeared in May in the poverty-stricken northeastern region of Brazil.

The Pan-American health Organization said the virus has since spread to 24 countries and territories in the hemisphere.

The governor of Florida has declared a state of emergency in 4 counties because of Zika. (Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Lee and Santa Rosa)
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/florid...ergency-counties-zika-virus/story?id=36696887

President Obama has asked Congress for nearly $2 billion dollars to fight Zika.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ongress-for-1-8-billion-to-combat-zika-virus/

The Obama administration will ask Congress for $1.8 billion to respond to the Zika virus abroad and prepare for it at home, officials said Monday.

"We must work aggressively to investigate these outbreaks, and mitigate, to the best extent possible, the spread of the virus," the administration said in a statement. It said it has not yet seen a case of Zika transmitted directly within the continental United States, but with the approach of spring and summer mosquito seasons, it wants to be prepared to fight the disease.

Hours later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that its emergency operations center in Atlanta was on its highest level of alert. More than 300 CDC staff are working in the command center to monitor and coordinate the Zika response.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he did not expect a major outbreak in the United States, noting that similar viruses such as dengue fever have been controlled in certain regions of the country such as Texas and Florida. But he said: "We never assume the least. We always assume the worst."

The CDC has found a link between Zika and the deformed babies.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...rocephaly-brazilian-babies-who-died/80179898/


Hopefully the 2500% surge in microcephaly babies is being caused by something other than Zika.
It has no symptoms in 80% of cases and appears easily spread by mosquitos.
El Salvador is asking women not to get pregnant until 2018.

 

[Daw]

What is expected to happen in El Salvador in 2018?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Hopefully the 2500% surge in microcephaly babies is being caused by something other than Zika

Um, no? I mean, we know how to deal with mosquitoes. It's going to be expensive but they can be controlled. The unknown, not so much.


Anyone know what the statistics are for this disease causing microcephaly? As in, what % of infections during pregnancy lead to microcephaly?

 

[Daw]

The OP says it's roundabout 1%.

I'm curious to learn more about that virus. What type of virus it is? How long the immunity/resistance holds? How fast it mutates? Are there any vaccines so far? Are the exposed people / carriers detectable? Does it only affect fetuses or also ovicells? Is male semen affected? All sort of stuff about that.

But instead I find a lot of non-specifics and even this crap there:

For many in the predominantly Roman Catholic country, the recommendation [to plan pregnancies] is morally conflicting, as the church condemns contraception.

“Morality says that people shouldn’t have that control” over procreation, Rev. Hector Figueroa, a priest in charge of health issues in the San Salvador archdiocese, said. “But the church also isn’t going to say something that runs contrary to life and health.”

“This is a very delicate issue,” he said.

It'll be hard to me as a non-believer, but I'll pray to Lord that His followers come to their senses.

 

[Kaitzilla]

What is expected to happen in El Salvador in 2018?

No idea.
They are probably hoping the USA or someone else comes up with a solution in the next year or two.

Um, no? I mean, we know how to deal with mosquitoes. It's going to be expensive but they can be controlled. The unknown, not so much.


Anyone know what the statistics are for this disease causing microcephaly? As in, what % of infections during pregnancy lead to microcephaly?

Some kind of chemical release would be far preferable to a plague.
Environmentalists and scientists always back cleaning up spills.

Deal with mosquitoes?
We could save 3 million human lives a year by wiping mosquitoes out, but doing so might be .... immoral.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-172757/Is-end-mosquito.html

The proposal by Dr Burt, an evolutionary biologist at Imperial College, London, involves adding a gene that affects breeding - called HEG - to the mosquito.

If an insect 'doctored' to carry the gene bred with an unmodified mosquito, the offspring would also carry the gene.

In the next generation if two insects carrying the gene mated, they would be unable to produce any offspring.

Dr Burt believes that releasing enough GM insects to make up one per cent of local populations would lead to the gene spreading 'like wildfire'.

It could kill four-fifths of the population within 12 generations - as little as 36 weeks - says the report.

Scientists admit that using genetic technology to eradicate a species raises ethical questions.

Dr Burt said: 'I'm not convinced it should be done. People spend their lives trying to save species.'

Dr Sue Mayer, director of Genewatch, said: 'Biting people a n d transmitting-malaria aren't the only things mosquitoes do. There could be a knockon effect on the food chain, for instance.'

Malaria is endemic in Africa and India, killing up to three million people a year.

Everyone fears any kind of sterility plague.

 

[Kaitzilla]

The OP says it's roundabout 1%.

I'm curious to learn more about that virus. What type of virus it is? How long the immunity/resistance holds? How fast it mutates? Are there any vaccines so far? Are the exposed people / carriers detectable? Does it only affect fetuses or also ovicells? Is male semen affected? All sort of stuff about that.

But instead I find a lot of non-specifics and even this crap there:



It'll be hard to me as a non-believer, but I'll pray to Lord that His followers come to their senses.

Many Latin American countries are very Catholic.
I'm not sure how the Priests can agree with the civil authorities and ask women to avoid pregnancy for months or years without using birth control.
The Catholic Church appears to be in a bind.


The virus has been studied so little that there aren't many answers to your many questions yet.
http://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10978820/zika-virus-questions-science

 

[Daw]

I'm supporting Dr Sue Mayer there. And not for moral reasons, I don't care about mosquitoes that much (in fact, I hate them). But the knockon effect on the food chain Dr. Mayer mentions may have domino effect that eventually may cost us more than 3 mln people a year.

It must be calculated first, and calculated well.

The virus itself may appear much safer to deal with.

 

[jackelgull]

The OP says it's roundabout 1%.

I'm curious to learn more about that virus. What type of virus it is? How long the immunity/resistance holds? How fast it mutates? Are there any vaccines so far? Are the exposed people / carriers detectable? Does it only affect fetuses or also ovicells? Is male semen affected? All sort of stuff about that.

But instead I find a lot of non-specifics and even this crap there:



It'll be hard to me as a non-believer, but I'll pray to Lord that His followers come to their senses.

Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus. It's related to Dengue fever

There is no vaccine to prevent or specific medicine to treat Zika infections.

Zika has symptoms similar to Dengue fever and can be found through blood tests.

As far as I can tell, the virus gets into the brain of the fetus somehow.

Sorry I don't have more exact information, most of this information I found from the Center of Disease Control website and some from NBC news.

 

[Kaitzilla]

I'm supporting Dr Sue Mayer there. And not for moral reasons, I don't care about mosquitoes that much (in fact, I hate them). But the knockon effect on the food chain Dr. Mayer mentions may have domino effect that eventually may cost us more than 3 mln people a year.

It must be calculated first, and calculated well.

The virus itself may appear much safer to deal with.

I've got a good feeling about wiping out the mosquitoes.
We've killed off lots of species and the food chain was just fine.

I can't imagine how losing mosquitoes costs us more than 3 million people per year. (the ones otherwise not dying from malaria, dengue fever, west nile, etc.)
Mosquitoes are so tiny that I'd barely call them food anyway.
Frogs will get by just fine with flies. (until we wipe them out too! )

 

[El_Machinae]

There's a better GMO mosquito, where they use gene-driver technology to make sure that a gene rendering it inhospitable for the malaria parasite is passed into a population. These mosquitos have been invented, and there's currently discussion about using them.

I'm definitely in the 'faster is better' camp on that one. Wouldn't get rid of mosquitoes. Would get rid of malaria.


That said, the solution with zika is going to be vaccines. Watch how many commentators recommend donating to charities that research and roll them out. Then watch to see how many use the crisis to grind their tired old political axe.

That said, the evidence tying zika to the deformation is still only loose.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

Ah the tropics, how many wonderful microscopic "gifts" that environment has given mankind.

Deal with mosquitoes?
We could save 3 million human lives a year by wiping mosquitoes out, but doing so might be .... immoral.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-172757/Is-end-mosquito.html

All that about genetic engineering and no mention of the fact that we already HAD an effective way of controlling mosquitos, it was called DDT, and it was banned due to faulty research and bad information that has been long since debunked sending people into a blind panic.

 

[Daw]

I found some tiny bits of specifics on it there. Interesting.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

It is my understanding that there is no evidence of Zika leading to Microcephaly in Africa, only in South America. I guess the virus could have mutated there, or that it might only effect those who already have some genetic anomaly not found in its native habitat.


I've heard that their is no vaccine yet, but that most people fight it off easily and that it does not stay in the body long at all after the symptoms cease.

The symptoms in most infected persons are about the same as a very mild common cold.

At first I heard it claimed that it could only spread through mosquitoes, but I believe there have been reports of the virus being detected in saliva and semen at levels just high enough that kissing or sex could possibly spread the illness too.

There must be some way to detect the disease, but since its symptoms are shared by so many other illnesses it is probably not feasible to test all suspected cases.

 

[Kyriakos]

While microcephaly is no laughing matter ( ) i did originally mean to ask if the Zika virus was caused by the Zuni doll

Its name is very ominous as well.

I have to suppose that microcephaly is detactable very early on in the pregnancy (?), so hopefully it won't lead to that many badies born with it...

 

[Daw]

It is my understanding that there is no evidence of Zika leading to Microcephaly in Africa, only in South America.

That might be just due to poor statistics.

I guess the virus could have mutated there, or that it might only effect those who already have some genetic anomaly not found in its native habitat.

On the other hand the virus was discovered some 60 years ago, and nobody knows for how long it has existed undetected with old fart Darwin patiently working on people in Africa.

I've heard that their is no vaccine yet, but that most people fight it off easily and that it does not stay in the body long at all after the symptoms cease.

I've found nothing on how long the antibodies hold. Have you heard anything about that?

The symptoms in most infected persons are about the same as a very mild common cold.

The only difference is rash some people show. But in most of them yes, it does look like common cold. Or bad food.

At first I heard it claimed that it could only spread through mosquitoes, but I believe there have been reports of the virus being detected in saliva and semen at levels just high enough that kissing or sex could possibly spread the illness too.

Yes, I've found such information, too.

There must be some way to detect the disease, but since its symptoms are shared by so many other illnesses it is probably not feasible to test all suspected cases.

Virus RNA and antibodies are detectable in serum.

 

[Daw]

I have to suppose that microcephaly is detactable very early on in the pregnancy (?), so hopefully it won't lead to that many badies born with it...

I guess it depends on what the cause is. If it is genetical, then yes, it is detectable early. But if it is the disease the pregnant woman gets while being pregnant already... well, then there will be "mild" microcephaly, but it will not make anybody happier.

 

[Kyriakos]

Wow. Indeed. I didn't realise it was able to mutate the unborn baby regardless of time the mother gets the virus...

 

[Daw]

Wow. Indeed. I didn't realise it was able to mutate the unborn baby regardless of time the mother gets the virus...

Rubella is very dangerous for pregnant women for the same reason: it may distort the fetus disastrously. The good thing about Rubella is that antibodies for it hold for decades, so it is very unlikely that immunized person (through vaccination or having had it) will ever get it again in their lifetime.

This is exactly the reason I am curious about the Zika antibodies lifetime. If they hold long, immunization will be really easy: just get bitten by a right mosquito, have a few days sick leave, and live happily ever after.

 

[Atticus]

In El Salvador abortion is also illegal for any reason, at least that's what read in the newspaper today. And the newspaper is almost as reliable as the internet.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

In El Salvador abortion is also illegal for any reason, at least that's what read in the newspaper today. And the newspaper is almost as reliable as the internet.

They can't put it on the Internet if it's not true!