Evidence linking Zika to tragic birth defects was reinforced on Friday by two separate continental studies, according to a report in the Columbus Dispatch. U.S. researchers in one of the studies identified a possible association in Zika’s relation to microcephaly, causing newborns to have abnormally small heads and underdeveloped cognitive function. Brazil remains the epicenter of the outbreak, as Zika continues to spread to other global regions.
In the second study, U.S. and Brazilian scientists analyzed 88 pregnant women at a clinic in Rio de Janeiro, revealing more ominous complications yet unseen, including damage to fetuses’ central nervous systems without amniotic fluid by late pregnancy. The global scientific community has been trying to halt its spread, but a lack of knowing its inherent nature has thwarted progressive efforts.
Although Zika causes only minor ailments in most of the population, Friday’s new findings are further confirming the dismal consequences for pregnant women and their offspring.”This is truly the virus from hell,” said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. The study’s results, originally published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, also fill another void.”It strengthens the case that Zika is a culprit behind microcephaly,” said Joseph Gleeson, an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, who was not involved in the study. “It’s a very important piece in the puzzle.”
Scientists have already observed traces of the virus in brains of fetuses that died including the placentas of infected women. But the missing relationship is how the infection can depress or stagnate brain development in utero. Even though the surveys don’t definitively prove that Zika causes microcephaly, they substantiate the association. Also, the results did not address whether the infection infiltrates brain cells, but they disclose the virus’s potential destruction. “This virus can do a lot of damage,” Florida State University virologist Hengli Tang, a lead author of the study, released in a statement.