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Zika infection may affect adult brain cells
medicalxpress ^ | August 18, 2016 | Joseph Gleeson & Howard Hughes

Posted on 08/18/2016 9:56:28 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt

Concerns over the Zika virus have focused on pregnant women due to mounting evidence that it causes brain abnormalities in developing fetuses. However, new research in mice from scientists at The Rockefeller University and La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology suggests that certain adult brain cells may be vulnerable to infection as well. Among these are populations of cells that serve to replace lost or damaged neurons throughout adulthood, and are also thought to be critical to learning and memory.

"This is the first study looking at the effect of Zika infection on the adult brain," says Joseph Gleeson, adjunct professor at Rockefeller, head of the Laboratory of Pediatric Brain Disease, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "Based on our findings, getting infected with Zika as an adult may not be as innocuous as people think."

Although more research is needed to determine if this damage has long-term biological implications or the potential to affect behavior, the findings suggest the possibility that the Zika virus, which has become widespread in Central and South America over the past eight months, may be more harmful than previously believed. The new findings were published in Cell Stem Cell on August 18.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: adult; baby; brain; publichealth; virus; zika
"Zika can clearly enter the brain of adults and can wreak havoc," says Sujan Shresta, a professor at the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology. "But it's a complex disease—it's catastrophic for early brain development, yet the majority of adults who are infected with Zika rarely show detectable symptoms. Its effect on the adult brain may be more subtle, and now we know what to look for."

Early in gestation, before our brains have developed into a complex organ with specialized zones, they are comprised entirely of neural progenitor cells. With the capability to replenish the brain's neurons throughout its lifetime, these are the stem cells of the brain. In healthy individuals, neural progenitor cells eventually become fully formed neurons, and it is thought that at some point along this progression they become resistant to Zika, explaining why adults appear less susceptible to the disease.

But current evidence suggests that Zika targets neural progenitor cells, leading to loss of these cells and to reduced brain volume. This closely mirrors what is seen in microcephaly, a developmental condition linked to Zika infection in developing fetuses that results in a smaller-than-normal head and a wide variety of developmental disabilities.

1 posted on 08/18/2016 9:56:28 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

isn’t a YUGE percentage of the cases in the US do to sexual contact?

Then being faithful to one’s spouse is a smart thing.


2 posted on 08/18/2016 9:59:21 AM PDT by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Obama just gave the UN $500 mil for the global warming slush fund. This is the reason all of a sudden Zika is all important in media. He wants US taxpayers to give more to the slush fund. Once Ryan gives it to him...Zika will go away.


3 posted on 08/18/2016 9:59:40 AM PDT by ColdOne (poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11~We need our weaves, I don't use them,but we need them.)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

They really are trying to scare us again. Remember swine flu, ebola, bird flu.

Meh. Like I said with Ebola, call me when 1,000 Americans that contracted the disease on american soil die.


4 posted on 08/18/2016 10:00:19 AM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

I don’t understand how all of a sudden there’s “Zika”. Honestly, I don’t get it, I know they say it existed before, but I don’t think so, I truly think this thing was engineered. Anybody else?


5 posted on 08/18/2016 10:02:20 AM PDT by Scythian_Reborn
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To: 2ndreconmarine; Fitzcarraldo; Covenantor; Mother Abigail; EBH; Dog Gone; ...
Infectious Disease Ping

Zika May Affect ADULT BRAIN , although more Subtle.

(additional Zika Virus studies located on the source page)

6 posted on 08/18/2016 10:02:25 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt ( British historian Arnold Toynbee - Civilisations die from suicide, not by murder.)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Well alright then. Keep letting illegals pinch off zika babies here in America.


7 posted on 08/18/2016 10:03:27 AM PDT by soycd
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

start with democrats.


8 posted on 08/18/2016 10:03:56 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Even if it’s true, there’s nothing to worry about. People who go into Zika infested countries when they know the danger aren’t using their brains any way.


9 posted on 08/18/2016 10:04:36 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Are they sure this virus is new? I mean, it would explain more than one crazy Brasileira in my life....


10 posted on 08/18/2016 10:06:28 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Seems like a good reason to bring back DDT.


11 posted on 08/18/2016 10:17:31 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (`)
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To: Gen.Blather
Seems like a good reason to bring back DDT.

Yep and it's probably effective on ticks as well.

12 posted on 08/18/2016 10:18:19 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Maybe this explains Hillary.


13 posted on 08/18/2016 10:26:01 AM PDT by ReleaseTheHounds ("The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." M. Thatcher)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

14 posted on 08/18/2016 10:29:45 AM PDT by Gamecock (There is always one more idiot than you counted on.)
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To: ColdOne
ColdOne :" He wants US taxpayers to give more to the slush fund. Once Ryan gives it to him...Zika will go away."

I believe that we will continue to live with Zika, although at tremendous expense; longevity can be explained in one word : microcephally !
Microcephallic babies will need additional social care , Social Security Disability (SSD) expense, and additional medical expense- for which you pay in taxes (ObamaCare).
The financial expense can be economically catastrophic, given open borders, immigration, international travel, sexual transmission and lack of personal responsibility.

15 posted on 08/18/2016 10:36:03 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt ( British historian Arnold Toynbee - Civilisations die from suicide, not by murder.)
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To: ColdOne

Funny how things come together for the good of the CDC...for the American taxpayer and public, not so much!! Read the contradictions!

http://www.thevaccinereaction.org/2016/08/so-what-became-of-the-1-9-billion-for-zika/

“”It was not until Apr. 13, 2016—a full seven weeks after the emergency funds were requested—that the CDC announced its belief that the Zika virus was “a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects.”9 The conclusion by the CDC was based on a paper written and published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD, Denise J. Jamieson, MD, MPH, Margaret A. Honein, PhD, MPH, and Lyle R. Petersen, MD, MPH.10 All four authors are CDC employees.””


16 posted on 08/18/2016 10:41:49 AM PDT by Thank You Rush
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To: Caipirabob
Caipirabob :" Are they sure this virus is new?..."

The Zika virus isn't new, it was first observed in Africa in 1947, the main physical symptom was a 'rash'.
The virus consists of simple RNA, and is easily subject to mutation and change.
There is evidence that viri may mutate when affected by external conditions such as chemical exposure, climate change, or any number of variables
and like all living things, it adapts and changes in order to survive.
The Zika may have just mutated and changed, and as it biologically changed and adapted, it may have developed different physical response in the host.
One of those changes may be microcephally , physical and social retarded development , neurological responses, and possibly organic an chemical changes in the host.
There is still much to learn about Zika - this latest study was just relased two days ago , which indicated that there may be organic and chemical changes in the host adult brain.

17 posted on 08/18/2016 10:51:52 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt ( British historian Arnold Toynbee - Civilisations die from suicide, not by murder.)
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To: Thank You Rush

Thank you for that link!


18 posted on 08/18/2016 11:09:03 AM PDT by ColdOne (poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11~We need our weaves, I don't use them,but we need them.)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt
The Zika virus isn't new, it was first observed in Africa in 1947
Another "gift" from the continent of infectious diseases.
19 posted on 08/18/2016 11:12:33 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

OK, so much for my planned vacation in south Florida. Too many Democrats down there, anyway.


20 posted on 08/18/2016 11:53:10 AM PDT by MrChips (Ad sapientiam pertinet aeternarum rerum cognitio intellectualis - St. Augustine)
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