Microcephaly News

The Zika flavivirus that broke out as an epidemic in Brazil in 2015 and spread to 70 countries in the world, also made an appearance in India in late May this year.

Zika was first identified in 1947 in Uganda, and until its recent emergence in the Americas, was a little known one that sporadically causes mild infections.

They said the compound could serve as basis for drugs to prevent neurological complications of Zika.

The study also says that other birth defects are more common than microcephaly, in which babies are born with very small heads.

If the reports are confirmed, it would make Vietnam the second Southeast Asian country after Thailand to have a microcephaly case linked to Zika.

The Zika virus can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects. 

Zika generally has mild effects but is more dangerous for pregnant women as it has been linked to severe birth defects, including the brain deformation microcephaly.

 The new finding suggests that newborns may continue to be at risk from the virus at a time when their brains are still rapidly growing and developing.

Researchers from Brazil's Recife, the city at the centre of the Zika epidemic, believe there may also be a link between Zika infection and a severe joint condition.

Researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley identify a drug that may be able to block the Zika virus, which infects numerous cell types in the human placenta and amniotic sac.

 Zika virus is spreading fast in Puerto Rico, infecting as many as 50 pregnant women per day and raising the risk of birth defects, US health officials have said.

Brazil has been most affected by the mosquito-borne virus that has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean.

Fears over the Zika virus have contributed to a "huge" increase in the number of women in Latin America wanting abortions, researchers said.

Experts say Zika is to blame for a surge in cases in Latin America of microcephaly.

The Zika virus can cause microcephaly and other severe birth defects. However, as there are currently no effective vaccines or therapies available to contain ZIKV infection, ZIKV remains a significant challenge to public health.

The new Zika clone, together with mosquito infection models and the UTMB-developed Zika mouse model, represent a major advance towards deciphering why the virus is tied to serious diseases.

Scientists have for the first time found that Zika triggers cell suicide in the developing brain, a finding that may explain how the virus causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads, and also help develop new therapies against the infection.

Brazilian health ministry on Wednesday said between October 22 and April 30 out of 1,271 microcephaly cases 203 tested positive for the Zika virus.  

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has claimed that there is enough evidence to confirm about the connection between the infection and the birth defects, also known as microcephaly.

In a first, Brazilian researchers have demonstrated the harmful effects of Zika virus on human brain, revealing that the virus reduces growth and induces cell death and malformations in neural stem cells.