What's Zika Virus?

What's Zika Virus?
The mosquito-borne virus is spreading through 24 regions around the world. What do we know about this strange illness?

Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. No vaccine or medications are available to prevent or treat Zika infections.

In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. The outbreak in Brazil led to reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes.

Pregnant women are being urged to think twice before traveling to Latin American and Caribbean countries battling a rise in cases of microcephaly — a rare but brutal condition that shrinks the brains of unborn babies. 

But the virus and the birth defects have not been scientifically linked, leaving many questions about what is happening to these children in the womb. Microcephaly itself is not a disease. It's a condition caused by the failure of a fetus's brain to develop in the mother's womb. There can be a number of causes, including toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, syphilis, rubella and genetic abnormalities. So first, the researchers need to rule out these causes out.

In their research, the doctors have made some startling discoveries: There are some unique markers in the infants who have suspected cases of Zika-related microcephaly.

Read the article:
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/01/29/464811052/doctors-see-profound-abnormalities-in-zika-linked-microcephaly-cases

Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment | Zika virus | CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/symptoms/

How Zika Virus Affects Unborn Babies?:
http://news.discovery.com/human/health/how-zika-virus-affects-unborn-babies-160128.htm

#health   #zikavirus   #microcephaly   #pregnancy   #medicine