Other viruses | Zika

Update on Zika – What you need to know

2017

Authors: Sáfadi MA, Nascimento-Carvalho CM

Published in: Pediatr Infect Dis J.2017;36(3):333-336

Abstract After remaining related to few sporadic cases in limited regions for more than half century since its discovery, Zika virus (ZIKV) was recently introduced into the Western Hemisphere, first in Brazil and then spreading very rapidly in the Americas. Unexpectedly, an increased incidence of microcephaly and other neurologic malformations in fetuses born to mothers infected with ZIKV during pregnancy was reported in Brazil,

Zika virus disrupts molecular fingerprinting of human neurospheres

2017

Authors: Garcez PP, Nascimento JM, de Vasconcelos JM, et al.

Published in: Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 23;7:40780

Abstract Zika virus (ZIKV) has been associated with microcephaly and other brain abnormalities; however, the molecular consequences of ZIKV to human brain development are still not fully understood. Here we describe alterations in human neurospheres derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells infected with the strain of Zika virus that is circulating in Brazil.

The clinically approved antiviral drug sofosbuvir inhibits Zika virus replication

2017

Authors: Sacramento CQ, de Melo GR, de Freitas CS, et al.

Published in: Sci Rep.2017 Jan 18;7: 40920

Abstract Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the Flaviviridae family, along with other agents of clinical significance such as dengue (DENV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viruses. Since ZIKV causes neurological disorders during fetal development and in adulthood,

Persistent Zika virus detection in semen in a traveler returning to the United Kingdom from Brazil, 2016

2017

Authors: Gaskell KM, Houlihan C, Nastouli E, Checkly AM

Published in: Emerg Infect Dis.2017;23(1):137-139

Abstract Zika virus is normally transmitted by mosquitos, but cases of sexual transmission have been reported. We describe a patient with symptomatic Zika virus infection in whom the virus was detected in semen for 92 days. Our findings support recommendations for 6 months of barrier contraceptive use after symptomatic Zika virus infection.

Acute paralysis and neuro-inflammation in jamaican children during Zika virus and dengue epidemics of 2016

2017

Authors: Melbourne-Chambers R., Christie CD, Greenaway E., Bullock R

Published in: West Indian Med J.2016;65(3):425-430

Abstract Dengue, Chikungunya Fever (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) are all transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and are currently circulating in Jamaica. Jamaica has been experiencing a ZIKV epidemic since February 2016. At the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI),

Coinfection with Zika and dengue-2 viruses in a traveler returning from Haiti, 2016: clinical presentation and genetic analysis

2017

Authors: Iovine NM, Lednicky J, Cherabuddi K,  et al.

Published in: Clin Infect Dis. 2017;64(1): 72–75.

Abstract Zika virus and dengue virus serotype 2 were isolated from a patient with travel to Haiti who developed fever, rash, arthralgias, and conjunctivitis. The infecting Zika virus was related to Venezuelan and Brazilian strains but evolved along a lineage originating from strains isolated in 2014 in the same region of Haiti.

Behavioral, climatic, and environmental risk factors for Zika and Chikungunya virus infections in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015-16

2017

Authors: Fuller TL, Calvet G, Genaro Estevam C, et al.

Published in: PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0188002

Abstract: The burden of arboviruses in the Americas is high and may result in long-term sequelae with infants disabled by Zika virus infection (ZIKV) and arthritis caused by infection with Chikungunya virus (CHIKV).

Meningo-encephalo-myelitis in children during the Zika virus epidemic in Grenada

2017

Authors: Nelson B, Melbourne-Chambers R, Christie CDC

Published in: West Indian Med J. Published Online: December 20, 2017

Abstract Zika Virus is neurotropic. We report two children from the Caribbean island of Grenada, a three-year-old with acute neuro-inflammation who had intractable seizures, meningo-encephalitis, CSF pleocytosis and Zika IgM positive acute serology and a four-year-old with acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis manifesting as generalized seizures,

Consequences of perinatal infections with rubella, measles, and mumps

2017

Authors: Schwarz ER

Published in: Curr Opin Virol. 2017;27:71-77

Abstract Measles, mumps, and rubella have recently taken the stage as re-emerging diseases of public health importance-particularly in regards to the consequences seen with perinatal infections. Effective vaccination strategies have successfully reduced the spread of measles, mumps, and rubella in the United States, but a current trend of increased vaccination hesitancy,

Neurologic complications associated with the Zika virus in brazilian adults

2017

Authors: da Silva IRF, Frontera JA, Bispo de Filippis AM, Nascimento OJMD

Published in: JAMA Neurol.2017;74(10):1190-1198

Importance  There are no prospective cohort studies assessing the incidence and spectrum of neurologic manifestations secondary to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in adults.

Objective  To evaluate the rates of acute ZIKV infection among patients hospitalized with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS),

Rapid antigen tests for dengue virus serotypes and Zika virus in patient serum

2017

Authors: Bosch I, de Puig H, Hiley M, et al.

Published in: Sci Transl Med. 2017 Sep 27;9(409)

Abstract The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak demonstrates that cost-effective clinical diagnostics are urgently needed to detect and distinguish viral infections to improve patient care. Unlike dengue virus (DENV), ZIKV infections during pregnancy correlate with severe birth defects,

Structural investigation of C6/36 and Vero cell cultures infected with a Brazilian Zika virus

2017

Authors: Barreto-Vieira DF, Jacome FC, da Silva MAN, et al.

Published in: PLoS One. 2017;12(9):e0184397

Abstract Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the flavivirus genus, and its genome is approximately 10.8 kilobases of positive-strand RNA enclosed in a capsid and surrounded by a membrane. Studies on the replication dynamics of ZIKV are scarce,

Antibody-based assay discriminates Zika virus infection from other flaviviruses

2017

Authors: Balmaseda A, Stettler K, Medialdea-Carrera R, et al.

Published in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017;114(31):8384-8389

Abstract Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that emerged recently as a global health threat, causing a pandemic in the Americas. ZIKV infection mostly causes mild disease, but is linked to devastating congenital birth defects and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults.

Accuracy of Zika virus disease case definition during simultaneous Dengue and Chikungunya epidemics

2017

Authors: Braga JU, Bressan C, Dalvi APR, et al.

Published in: PLoS One.2017;12(6):e0179725. 

Background Zika is a new disease in the American continent and its surveillance is of utmost importance, especially because of its ability to cause neurological manifestations as Guillain-Barrésyndrome and serious congenital malformations through vertical transmission. The detection of suspected cases by the surveillance system depends on the case definition adopted.

Zika virus infection–associated acute transient polyneuritis

2017

Authors: Nascimento OJM, Frontera JA, Amitrano DA, Bispo de Filippis AM, Da Silva IRF; RIO-GBS-ZIKV Research Group

Published in: Neurology 2017;88(24):2330-2332

Abstract Zika virus (ZIKV) has been associated with various neurologic complications in adults, including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), transverse myelitis, meningoencephalitis, and ophthalmologic manifestations. Though some of these syndromes may be due to a postinfectious (molecular mimicry) mechanism,

Zika virus: what have we learned?

2016

Authors: Safadi MA

Published in: Amer J Perinatol.2016; 33(11): 1029-1031

Abstract Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arthropod-borne, enveloped RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family, which belongs to the genus Flavivirus, related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Two major lineages, African and Asian, have been identified through phylogenetic analyses.

Outcome of dengue in hospitalized jamaican children

2016

Authors: Davidson T., Vickers I., Christie CD

Published in: West Indian Med J 2016;65(3);442-449

Background Dengue fever is hyper-endemic in Jamaica with exponential rates of infection in successive outbreaks. The absence of local data and the potential for massive outbreaks in a country where a third of the population are children formed the basis for this study.

Chikungunya in Jamaica – public health effects and clinical features in children

2016

Authors: Christie CD, Melbourne-Chambers R, Ennevor J, et al.

Published in: West Indian Med J 2016;65(3);431-437

Background Chikungunya virus entered the Caribbean for the first time in 2013 and Jamaica experienced its maiden epidemic with Chikungunya Fever in 2014. We aimed to describe the public health effects and describe the clinical features in children and adolescents in Jamaica.

Emergence of Zika virus epidemic and the national response in Jamaica

2016

Authors: Webster-Kerr K, Christie CDC, Grant A, et al.

Published in: West Indian Med J. 2016;65(1):243-249

Background Jamaica, along with the Americas, experienced major epidemics of arboviral diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito in recent years. These include dengue fever in 2012, chikungunya fever in 2014 and Zika virus infection (ZIKV) in 2016. We present the emergence of the ZIKV epidemic in Jamaica and outline the national response.

Prolonged shedding of Zika virus associated with congenital infection

2016

Authors: Oliveira DB, Almeida FJ, Durigon EL, et al.

Published in: N Engl J Med. 2016. 22;375(12):1202-4

The presence of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has been associated with microcephaly in multiple studies, although little is known about ZIKV shedding in congenitally infected infants. We report a case of a newborn who had continued viremia with ZIKV for at least 67 days after birth.

Unravelling the paediatric and perinatal Zika virus epidemic through population-based research

2016

Authors: Christie CD, Giaquinto C

Published in: West Indian Med J.2016;65(1):239-242

Abstract Zika virus epidemic now involves 72 countries, worldwide. Transmission is multimodal through mosquito bites and blood and body fluids. Zika virus causes Guillain Barre Syndrome syndrome and pregnancy complications including perinatal microcephaly. Diagnosis is complicated by subclinical infection in 80%,

Zika virus infection in pregnant women in Barcelona, Spain

2016

Authors: Bocanegra C, Sulleiro E, Soriano-Arandes A, et al.

Published in: Clin Microbiol Infect. 2016;22(7):648-50

This case series of two pregnant women infected with the Zika virus in Barcelona, Spain and provides an algorithm for diagnosing pregnant women with suspected ZIKV infection in non-endemic areas.

 

Data sharing – A code of conduct for data on epidemics

2016

Authors: Capua I

Published in: Nature. 2016;16;534(7607):326

This correspondence urges Brazil to speed up reforms to current biosecurity legislation, enabling sharing of vital Zika virus samples and information.

Zika virus outbreak in Haiti in 2014: molecular and clinical data

2016

Authors: Kednicky J, Beau De Rochars VM, El Badry M, et al.

Published in: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016;10(4):e0004687

Background Zika virus (ZIKV), first isolated in Uganda in 1947, is currently spreading rapidly through South America and the Caribbean. In Brazil, infection has been linked with microcephaly and other serious complications,

Zika virus and neurological disease—approaches to the unknown

2016

Authors: Solomon T, Baylis M, Brown D.

Published in: Lancet Infect Dis. 2016;16(4):402-404

This article comments on the origins and consequences of recent Zika virus outbreaks, highlighting the urgent need to address several key gaps in knowledge regarding this virus.

Brazil’s scientists scramble to solve the Zika puzzle

2016

Author: Bispo A

Published in: Bull World Health Organ. 2016;94:165–166

In this interview, Anna Bispo describes the history of Zika virus in Brazil, including its potential links to an increase in microcephaly cases, and describes groundbreaking work in Zika virus diagnostics and virology at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Editorial Overview: Virus–vector interactions

2016

Authors: Kramer LD, Long MT

Published in: Curr Opin Virol. 2016 Dec;21:v-vi

 

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