zika can break out anywhere warns brazilian doctor
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Urging them to increase research funding

'Zika can break out anywhere,' warns Brazilian doctor

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle'Zika can break out anywhere,' warns Brazilian doctor

Brazilian obstetrician Adriana Melo
Rio de Janeiro - Arab Today

The Brazilian doctor who first linked the Zika virus to brain damage in babies warns that rich countries are not safe from the disease, urging them to increase research funding.

Obstetrician Adriana Melo was the first person to make the connection between an outbreak of Zika in Brazil and a surge in babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads.

Melo, who works at the heart of the outbreak in the northeast Brazilian city of Campina Grande, sent her first sample of amniotic fluid in for Zika tests on November 10, 2015.

The positive result -- the first of many for mothers whose babies had the debilitating neurological condition -- sparked a chain reaction of alarm.

It culminated in February, when the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency over the link between Zika and microcephaly.

Melo said the world has not done enough since then to understand and fight this "neglected" disease.

She urged wealthy countries to wake up to recent findings that Zika, which is typically spread by tropical mosquitoes, can also be transmitted sexually, and possibly through other bodily fluids.

"We know there are other transmission vectors and that (Zika) can break out anywhere, in any country," she told AFP in an interview in Rio de Janeiro, on the sidelines of an international conference on the disease.

"It's a disease that doesn't interest rich countries much because they think it won't reach them. But it's a risk to underestimate this virus. I am very afraid of viruses," she said.

Melo called for more clinical studies of Zika, which has been linked not only to microcephaly in babies but also a potentially deadly neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults.

There is currently no treatment or vaccine for the virus, whose mild, flu-like symptoms belie its potentially devastating side effects.

- 'Here to stay' -

Brazil has been the country hit hardest by Zika, with 1.5 million people infected and more than 2,000 babies born with brain damage.

The disease, which originated in Africa, has swept Latin America and the Caribbean since it was first detected in Brazil last year.

"Traveler's Zika" -- cases brought back by people who spent time in affected countries -- also reached Europe and the United States.

Then, last July, US health authorities announced that locally transmitted Zika cases had been detected in Florida.

Meanwhile, warnings were emerging that tropical mosquitoes were not the only vector for the disease.

In February 2016, the United States reported a case of sexual transmission in Texas. Dozens more followed.

Recent research indicates the virus could also be spread through tears or sweat.

Melo warned health authorities not to take their eyes off the epidemic, even though the number of cases has diminished as mosquito populations have declined during the southern hemisphere winter.

"We need to use this moment of calm, after the explosion of 2015, to push ahead with research on the virus," she said.

"The current reduction in cases doesn't mean the virus isn't there. We still know very little about it.... We don't know if the virus can reactivate or mutate, like dengue fever, which now has four sub-types," she said.

"We need to better study this disease, which is here to stay."

Source: AFP

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

zika can break out anywhere warns brazilian doctor zika can break out anywhere warns brazilian doctor

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 06:29 2018 Sunday ,21 January

500 new trainees join US-backed Syria border force

GMT 10:31 2017 Sunday ,20 August

the history of solar eclipses

GMT 16:36 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

Gulf Air launches Bahrain Tourist Visa Service

GMT 03:19 2012 Saturday ,15 September

FREEDOM

GMT 06:56 2014 Friday ,12 September

No winners in Gaza

GMT 22:30 2012 Monday ,16 July

Sudan ruling party says protests \'ridiculous\'

GMT 07:09 2012 Wednesday ,20 June

Sudan and South Sudan border tensions

GMT 12:02 2012 Tuesday ,17 April

What the Living Do

GMT 17:33 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Caceres recalled to Paraguay squad for Brazil clash

GMT 17:18 2017 Tuesday ,19 December

Bahrain weather forecast

GMT 09:35 2017 Sunday ,29 October

Actress Annabella Sciorra accuses Weinstein of rape

GMT 13:43 2017 Thursday ,16 November

People Magazine names Blake Shelton 'sexiest man alive'

GMT 18:10 2017 Monday ,17 April

GCC Secretary-General Condemns Syria Blast
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle