The Zika Virus just got a little more frightening.
Turns out the Zika Virus may be neurotropic,
attacking the nervous system of some patients as noted in the article “Zika
'link' to new, paralysing disease: report”, published Wednesday, March 09,
2016, The Jamaica Observer.
A report published in the Lancet medical journal
speaks of a 15-y-o girl diagnosed in January 2016 with the Zika Virus. However,
the doctors noticed that she had acute myelitis.
Also called Transverse
myelitis, this condition manifests as inflammation of the spinal cord and
causes discomfort for the patient with the following symptoms:
1. Partial
paralysis
2. Limb
weakness
3. Intense
pain
But what caught the doctors at the Pointe-a-Pitre
hospital in Guadeloupe who treated the 15-y-o girl was the high levels of the
Zika Virus in her cerebrospinal fluid, blood and urine as noted in “Zika Virus
can cause paralyzing disorder – study”, published 9 March, 2016, RT.
This showed up in her medical results nine days
after the symptoms of the Zika Virus began to appear. What made this link even
more compelling was when the doctors checked the 15-y-o girl medical records as
well as did further tests and determined that she was no suffering from other
diseases that could also cause the symptoms of acute myelitis namely:
1. Shingles
2. Chicken
pox
3. Herpes
Virus, were ruled out
Albeit this isn't proof of a link as no mechanism
was demonstrated, it suggests that the Zika Virus may be correlated with
neurotropic conditions such as Transverse myelitis. It is very possible that
the Zika Virus can cause acute myelitis, given that the herpes Virus can cause
the condition, suggesting Viruses are associated with this disorder.
Please note that correlation isn't causation;
correlation has to have a definite mechanism to connect suspected cause in the
hypothesis and the effect before it can be considered causation. But it's
interesting as there is already a connection established between the Zika Virus
and Microcephaly.
Zika
Virus and acute myelitis - Link to Microcephaly and other Nervous system
conditions
This based on a study done by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a Brazilian biotechnology company in
the northeastern states of Bahia and Paraíba as noted in the article “New
Evidence supports Zika-Microcephaly connection”, published 19 February 2016
by Jessica Firger, Newsweek.
They found traces of the Zika Virus in the tissue of
two babies who died in Brazil from microcephaly as noted in the article “CDC
confirms link between Zika, microcephaly in Brazilian babies who died”,
published February 10, 2016 by Erin Kelly, USA
Today.
Johns Hopkins’ Institute for Cell Engineering in
Baltimore also determined that the Zika Virus targeted human neural progenitor
cells in the foetus, killing 90% of them in 3 days as noted in the article “Scientists
find link between birth defects and Zika Virus”, published 4 March 2016, France 24.
This affects the developement of the layer of
cerebral cortex in the fetal brain and may really be the cause of microcephaly.
More and more studies are being done to form a more
concise picture of the Zika Virus, with a study by French scientists of a
cluster of cases in the French Polynesia hinting at a connection to
Guillian-Barré Syndrome as reported in “Guillain-Barré
Syndrome, the other dark side of Zika virus”, published March 4 2016, Deutche-Welle.
Guillian-Barré Syndrome is a disorder of the nervous
system that causes:
1. Weakness
of the muscles
2. Autoimmune
response
This is where the body's own immune system
mistakenly attacks its own nerve cells causing nerve damage and a delayed
signal response. The Zika Virus is now beginning to look like
rubella part II, being as rubella also causes microcephaly as noted in “Evidence
Grows Linking Zika, Microcephaly and Other Nerve Syndromes”, published
March 9, 2016 by Karen Weintraub, Scientific American.
However, unlike rubella, which can affect the
developement of the baby in the early stages of pregnancy, Zika Virus appears
to be able to affect the developement of the baby in the later stages of
pregnancy as well.
So what is Jamaica doing about this currently?
Jamaica
and Zika Virus – Dealing with multiple infections stretching resources
Jamaica has confirmed the presence of the Zika Virus
in Portmore since Saturday, January 30, 2016 as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
Zika Virus confirmed in Portmore, St. Catherine will spread through Jamaica”.
The symptoms of the Zika Virus, which take four (4)
to seven (7) days after the initial infection to manifest and last for up to
four (4) weeks or longer, are not much different from the common cold:
1. Conjunctivitis
2. Fever
3. Headache
4. Joint
and muscle pain
5. Rash
6. Swelling
of the lower limbs
7. Weakness
Also seven (7) parishes in Jamaica have been listed
as having a high risk of a Zika Virus outbreak even as the Ministry of Health
is playing the cover-up game as per my analysis in my blog article
entitled “Why
the Ministry of Health is covering up Local Transmission of Zika Virus in
Jamaica” :
1. Kingston
2. St
Andrew
3. St
Catherine
4. St
Thomas
5. Clarendon
6. Manchester
7. Westmoreland
If you had caught the Chikungunya Virus, however,
you already have immunities from Zika Virus, particularly good news for the
following vulnerable groups:
1. Babies
2. Children
suffering from an illness
3. Elderly
persons with other health problems
So far a lab at the UHWI (University Hospital of the
West Indies) has been upgraded to test from the Zika Virus at a cost of JA$1
million as noted in the article “Local
ZIKV-Testing Lab Kicks Off Operations Today”, Published Monday March 7,
2016, The Jamaica Gleaner.
This will make test results faster to confirm than
having to wait on the results to come back from the Trinidad and Tobago-based
CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency).
We're also
released a PSA (Public Service Announcement) alerting members of the Jamaican
public of the presence of the Zika Virus and how to deal with it as noted in “Jamaica
warns about Zika with catchy reggae PSA”, published February 15, 2016 By
ASHLEY WELCH, CBS News.
But it ultimately it all comes down to preventing
the Aedes Aegypti mosquito from
breeding and reducing Aedes Aegypti mosquito
bites by:
1. Wearing
long-sleeved clothing or long pants
2. Using
DEET insect repellents
3. Sleeping
under mosquito nets
4. Removing
or covering container that can hold water
Reducing the breeding places for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito is crucial to
controlling the spread of the Zika Virus as shown in the CARPHA Yard
Poster below.
From March 2, 2016 |
Making your own DEET-free insect repellant suitable
for babies is also a good idea as explained in my blog article
entitled “How
to make non-DEET Mosquito Repellant and learn to love Zika Virus”.
Finally boosting you immune system by taking Vitamin
C and Vitamin B Complex as well as avoid pregnancy for the next two (2) years
would help Jamaicans weather the storm of this latest illness to afflict the
people of this country.
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