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Zika Is More Than Microcephaly
Until recently, Zika transmission in the US was limited to Florida. But we all knew that wouldn't last. It then showed up in the Rio Grande Valley near Brownsville, Texas, and by the summer of 2017, Zika will have spread further.
We've known about Zika since 1947 when it was first isolated in Uganda, Africa. It spread from there to SE Asia, Micronesia and finally South and Central America and the Caribbean. The attention the summer Olympics brought to Brazil, an epicenter of this infection has heightened the concern, especially the risks posed to newborns.
An infected pregnant woman can give birth to a baby with a small head and brain called microcephaly. Many of these children do not survive into adulthood.
A study in the journal Radiology has begun to identify some signs that microcephaly is evident early in pregnancy. Right now, this diagnosis can only be made in the late second to the third trimester.
The study found that brain images reveal structural changes in the corpus callosum that controls communication between the two hemispheres of the brain. As early as the second trimester, images also show changes in the regions affecting speech, movement, thought and emotion. Another especially damaging effect are the calcium deposits that occur between the cortex, the brain's outer layer, and the underlying white matter. This affects learning, memory and coordination.
Not only can these changes cause microcephaly, they could also result in other brain damage. We will be unaware of the full impact of the Zika virus on children until their brains reach full maturity at age 25.
More Information
Brain Scans of Brazilian Babies Show Array of Zika Effects
A study of brain scans and ultrasound pictures of 45 Brazilian babies whose mothers were infected with Zika in pregnancy shows that the virus can inflict serious damage to many different parts of the fetal brain beyond microcephaly, the condition of unusually small heads that has become the sinister signature of Zika.
What You Need to Know About Zika Virus for 2017
What scientists have learned about the disease in the off-season, where Zika is spreading now, and how to protect yourself...
So Far, Zika Is Showing Up in the United States Just Where the Modelers Said It Would
Scientists who use computer models to forecast future events often receive punishing criticism for getting it wrong. [...] So here's a ScienceInsider shoutout to some modelers who appear to have gotten it right: the meteorologists and entomologists who joined forces last May and predicted where local transmission of Zika in the continental United States was most likely to occur.
