Zika virus can cause abortions even in women without symptoms

EFE

LONDON (EFE) – The Zika virus could cause spontaneous abortions and intrauterine fetal deaths even in women who have never had any symptoms of disease, concludes a study published today. 39 by the journal Nature Medicine

A group of researchers from several centers for the study of primates in the United States conducted an experiment with 50 primates, including rhesus monkeys, and found that "26% non-human primates have lost their pregnancy despite the absence of symptoms. "

This leads the authors to conclude that there may be many more women, that they do not press, who lose their fetuses by this virus, which is transmitted by a mosquito bite. or through sex, In their experience, the experts analyzed the evolution of non-human primates that had been infected with the virus during the early stages of pregnancy. who has had no symptoms of the disease, which can usually be fever, rash, headache, muscle, and conjunctivitis.

"This is the first time that we have been able to categorically demonstrate that Zika-related spontaneous abortions (FIT) and intrauterine fetal deaths (after this period) occur in non-human primates without symptoms," explains Daniel Streblow, of the Oregon National Primate Research Center's Institute for Genetic Treatment and Vaccination.

"Examining this important issue will help us better understand how the Zika virus damages the placenta and how to prevent the tragic end of pregnancy that it can cause, "he adds.

Up to now, studies on the virus alone had analyzed the abortions and fetal deaths that occurred in women with symptoms.

Thus, a recent survey of women and they were known to be infected found that 5.8% experienced miscarriage and 1.6% intra fetal death. Uterine [1965] 9003] In addition to the loss of pregnancy, the Zika virus, identified for the first time in years Fifty monkeys in the Zika forest in Uganda can cause severe infections and malformations in the newborn, such as microcephaly.

In the United States, cases have been detected in Texas, Florida and New York. Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, parts of the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Among the primate research centers that participated in this joint research are those of the Institute of Biomedical Research in Texas, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Washington.