A new study, (click here) led in part by the University of Washington, raises new concerns over the threat of the Zika virus for pregnant women and their babies.
It found that children who appear normal at birth may show signs of the debilitating disease years down the road.
“Our research team is showing now, for the first time, that Zika virus damage to the fetal brain can be incredibly subtle and difficult to detect during pregnancy,” says Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf....
Zika is a virus and has no genetic footprint when amniocentesis is performed. It will only show up in ultrasounds as the fetus grows and brain development is hindered. In the case of the University of Washington study, the virus can effect what is viewed as a healthy and normal sized brain, too. Such problems will result in brain damage on a longer scale.
...But Waldorf's research looked at changes in the brains of primates and found that even when a baby is born with a normal-sized head, possible severe brain damage may have occurred and might not be diagnosed until years later....
Basically, what the University of Washington is saying is that it isn't just the number of cells of brain tissue that exists, it is the future of the integrity of functioning cells that can ultimately be effected.
...Researchers say Alzheimer's and dementia could also appear in toddlers and even teens years after they were infected because their brains contain similar neural stem cells....
Virus, by nature, are not self-replicating, they use the DNA of their victims to multiply. So, when Zika seeks out the brain cells, it is injecting it's own RNA and changing the STEM CELLS that are the basis of brain cell growth in order to form a brain.
Advising women to avoid countries where Zika exists is an interesting emergency measure, but, as we have seen in the USA with a highly mobile society the virus arrives anyway. Additionally, the mosquitoes that carry the virus are native to the USA. To continue to advocate women need to take care of themselves is not a long term permanent solution.
We have increasing seen diseases arrive in the USA that normally would not manifest naturally. They are arriving by vectors. Those vectors now have new land to infest because of the climate crisis and the increasing temperatures that would normally defeat them. This is a permanent posture for the USA now.
There are vectors that will now carry disease they never have before because Earth is becoming hotter. The hottest days of American history have been in the last decade and it is a trend that will continue until there is enough mitigation on Earth to end high Greenhouse Gas levels.
“Our research team is showing now, for the first time, that Zika virus damage to the fetal brain can be incredibly subtle and difficult to detect during pregnancy,” says Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf....
Zika is a virus and has no genetic footprint when amniocentesis is performed. It will only show up in ultrasounds as the fetus grows and brain development is hindered. In the case of the University of Washington study, the virus can effect what is viewed as a healthy and normal sized brain, too. Such problems will result in brain damage on a longer scale.
...But Waldorf's research looked at changes in the brains of primates and found that even when a baby is born with a normal-sized head, possible severe brain damage may have occurred and might not be diagnosed until years later....
Basically, what the University of Washington is saying is that it isn't just the number of cells of brain tissue that exists, it is the future of the integrity of functioning cells that can ultimately be effected.
...Researchers say Alzheimer's and dementia could also appear in toddlers and even teens years after they were infected because their brains contain similar neural stem cells....
Virus, by nature, are not self-replicating, they use the DNA of their victims to multiply. So, when Zika seeks out the brain cells, it is injecting it's own RNA and changing the STEM CELLS that are the basis of brain cell growth in order to form a brain.
Advising women to avoid countries where Zika exists is an interesting emergency measure, but, as we have seen in the USA with a highly mobile society the virus arrives anyway. Additionally, the mosquitoes that carry the virus are native to the USA. To continue to advocate women need to take care of themselves is not a long term permanent solution.
We have increasing seen diseases arrive in the USA that normally would not manifest naturally. They are arriving by vectors. Those vectors now have new land to infest because of the climate crisis and the increasing temperatures that would normally defeat them. This is a permanent posture for the USA now.
There are vectors that will now carry disease they never have before because Earth is becoming hotter. The hottest days of American history have been in the last decade and it is a trend that will continue until there is enough mitigation on Earth to end high Greenhouse Gas levels.
