Zika virus link to microcephaly confirmed
Prenatal blood tests and brain scans confirm that Zika virus in pregnant women causes their children to be born with microcephaly, or a too-small head.
A study led by Olli Vapalahti, professor of zoonotic virology at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has found that small amounts of genetic material from the Zika virus can be detected from a blood sample taken from a pregnant woman even weeks after the acute rash caused by the infection has passed, when the development of brain damage in the fetus is underway.
Severe brain abnormalities can be detected through neuroimaging already at this early stage, even before the development of the intracranial calcifications and microcephaly previously associated with Zika virus infections.
The observations are based on the case of a woman infected while visiting Central America during her 11th week of pregnancy. This study is the first to report isolation of infectious Zika virus from fetal tissue in cell culture. The virus was isolated from fetal brain tissue in a cell line representing neural cell precursors. Researchers mapped the entire genome of the virus and discovered eight mutations, which distinguish this virus from the Zika strains previously reported in Central America. “Some of these mutations may be associated with the adaptations of the virus to the fetal brain,” states Professor Vapalahti.
Overall, the results can help with the development of methods that would enable the detection of fetal damage associated with a Zika virus infection during pregnancy. “Our research also helps confirm the causal relation between the Zika virus and severe damage to the fetal central nervous system,” Vapalahti points out.
Category: Features, Health alert
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