Stopping the ZIKA virus
Following India’s first outbreak of Zika infections in Rajasthan in September 2018, Madhya Pradesh has now reported a second one, with six districts affected.
Zika is spread by the mosquito species, Aedes aegypti . It thrives in stagnant water.
Zika virus only causes mild fever and symptoms such as rashes in most people
The virus has been linked to birth defects in 5%-15% of children of infected mothers.
Such birth defects include an abnormally small head (microcephaly), eye damage, shortened muscles and joints, and hearing damage.
This is why the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that in areas with ongoing Zika transmission, pregnant women should be made aware of Zika’s dangers.
They must use mosquito nets and repellent
Given that Zika can spread through sexual activity, they should avoid unprotected sex, while couples planning to have children should consider delaying pregnancies
Reasons for delay in launching communication Campaigns in MP:
Due to an odd misinterpretation of Zika research.
According to a press release by thr ICMR, the Zika strain — which had earlier caused an outbreak in Rajasthan — did not have “known mutations” for microcephaly.
they believe it may also lack those mutations, and so, may not be dangerous to foetuses.
Only if the strain turns out to have the dangerous genetic changes, health officials said, would they begin explicitly warning
If people are told that it will impact their children, it will cause panic among the public.”
Contrary to what the Health Ministry’s press release suggests, there is no “known mutation” for microcephaly.
“It’s going to drive complacency within the general population if they don’t believe Zika can cause birth defects,”says Nathan Grubaugh, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health.
Nearly 80% of the infected people do not show symptoms.
Zika cases typically rise and drop with the seasonal prevalence of the Aedes mosquito
the ICMR’s surveillance system relies on a technique called Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), which looks for Zika’s genetic signature in patient blood samples.
But RT-PCR tends to throw up false-negatives when there is too little virus in the patient’s blood,
The good news is that birth defects such as microcephaly, contractures and clubfoot can be picked up during sonography at around 17 to 18 weeks of pregnancy,
Researchers, including one of Indian origin, have developed Six new antibodies to combat Zika
To help diagnose as well as treat the mosquito-borne disease that has infected over 1.5 million people worldwide.
Antibodies could be key to diagnosing and treating Zika virus.
The antibodies “may have the dual utility as diagnostics capable of recognising Zika virus subtypes and may be further developed to treat Zika virus infection,”
An antibody is a Y-shaped protein made by the immune system.
When a virus invades the body, antibodies bind to antigens associated with the bug, marking it for the immune system to destroy.