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Washington: It turns out that women who have already been infected with the dengue virus are more likely to suffer greater damage to their fetus and placenta if they are subsequently to be infected with the Zika virus.
The research was conducted by the Department of Microbiology, Icahn Medical School, Mount Sinai.
This study is the first to report a possible mechanism for improving the progression of Zika virus during pregnancy in an animal model.
The results of the study titled "Dengue Virus Immunity Enhances Zika Virus Damage During Pregnancy" were published in the February issue of Immunity, a journal published by Cell Press.
Zika virus outbreaks were first badociated with conbad malformations, including microcephaly, in which the baby is born with an unusually small head and brain, in Brazil, in 2015, where the dengue virus, a virus closely related to the Zika virus, is endemic.
The research team led by Jean Lim, Ph.D., badociate professor of microbiology and co-director of multidisciplinary training in microbiology at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, has transferred dengue virus-specific antibodies to mice prior to infection with Zika virus during pregnancy.
The presence of these antibodies in mice significantly increased placental damage, fetal growth, and fetal resorption. Human placenta tissues infected with Zika also exhibited increased replication in the presence of dengue antibodies.
Speaking of which, Dr. Lim said, "Our data demonstrate that antibodies generated by previous dengue infection can increase the severity of Zika infection during pregnancy."
"Our research could explain the high rate of microcephaly and conbad malformations observed during the recent Zika virus outbreak in South America," he added.
Source: ANI
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