A commonly used malaria drug might protect foetuses from being infected with the Zika viruses, according to new research by scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine. This is an important finding with the possibly simple solution to prevent babies being born with developmental deformities associated with the disease.
India has just recorded its fourth case of Zika. A 27-year-old man in Tamil Nadu was found infected with the Zika virus. Three cases were detected earlier this year in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Zika was declared a Public Health Emergency of International concern for much of 2016, after Zika infections were reported in many parts of the world and took a heavy toll on Brazil.
Zika often manifests as mild symptoms like fever and rash in adults but babies born to women infected with the virus can ave microcephaly, a condition in which the brain is small and underdeveloped. So far, there has been no vaccine or drug to protect pregnant women and their foetuses from infection.
A team of scientists from Washington University School of Medicine have studied pregnant mice infected with Zika and found that the Zika virus infects a foetus by manipulating the body’s normal barrier to infection. The body normally mobilises many…
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