Zika Virus: Microcephaly May Be 'Tip of the Iceberg' for Infant Problems

[Little Tich]

Source: Yahoo! News

Pregnant women who become infected with Zika virus may be at risk for not only having a child with microcephaly, but also having a fetus with other serious health issues, including problems with the nervous system and even fetal death, according to a new study from Brazil.

The study — which provides some of the strongest evidence that Zika virus causes microcephaly — found that nearly one-third of women who had Zika infections during their pregnancy had an ultrasound that showed fetal abnormalities. These abnormalities included problems with growth, such as microcephaly (meaning an abnormally small head), problems with the placenta and lesions in the brain or spine.

"Zika definitely causes the problems. We think microcephaly is only the tip of the iceberg," said study co-author Dr. Karin Nielsen-Saines, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. [Zika Virus FAQs: Top Questions Answered]

Infants and fetuses in the study showed a variety of problems, including calcification (or hardening) of brain tissues, problems with the amniotic fluid and an abnormally small body size. There were two stillbirths in the study. Usually, viral infections don't cause only one problem, and because of the array of problems now linked with Zika, the researchers suggest using the term congenitial Zika virus syndrome, Nielsen-Saines said. The new study provided a stronger type of evidence than previous studies of the effects of Zika during pregnancy because it was prospective, meaning that women who came into the clinic in Brazil were tested for Zika and then followed over time (regardless of whether or not they tested positive for the virus).

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/zika-virus-microcephaly-may-tip-iceberg-infant-problems-190031740.html

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Note: Small sample in study: "The study involved 88 pregnant women in Rio de Janerio who were tested for Zika virus because they had recently developed a rash — one of the symptoms of the infection. "

[SusanLarson]

1. It's not the virus

It most likely isn't caused by the virus, that susposedly is the coverup...

Latin American Doctors Suggest Monsanto-Linked Larvicide Cause of Microcephaly, Not Zika Virus

While the link between the mosquito-borne virus and microcephaly has yet to be scientifically proven, Argentinian and Brazilian doctors have suggested an alternate culprit: pesticides.

The report, written by the Argentine group Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), suspects that pyriproxyfen—a larvicide added to drinking water to stop the development of mosquito larvae in drinking water tanks—has caused the birth defects.

The authors said that the pesticide, known by its commercial name SumiLarv, is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese subsidiary of Monsanto.

According to PCST, in 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Health introduced pyriproxyfen to drinking-water reservoirs in the state of Pernambuco, where the proliferation of the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is very high.

http://www.ecowatch.com/2016/02/12/larvicide-cause-not-zika/

Read the report for yourself.

http://www.reduas.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2016/02/Informe-Zika-de-Reduas_TRAD.pdf

It includes this gem....

Previous Zika epidemics did not cause birth defects in newborns, despite infecting 75% of the population in those countries. Also, in other countries such as Colombia there are no records of microcephaly; however, there are plenty of Zika cases.

[Downwinder]

2. +1

[yourpaljoey]

3. The whole truth will come out... we are not going to like it.

[Little Tich]

4. Huffington Post: A Viral Story Links The Zika Crisis To Monsanto. Don't Believe It.

Source: Huffington Post, 16 Feb 2016

A group of doctors in Argentina calling themselves the "Physicians in Crop-Sprayed Towns" have issued an explosive report that denies global scientific consensus on the Zika virus outbreak and its apparent link to an uptick in cases of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil.

The doctors allege that instead of the mild mosquito-borne Zika virus, the increase in microcephaly cases is caused by a larvicide that contains the chemical pyriproxyfen. This larvicide is employed in mosquito control efforts against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the type that can carry Zika, including using it to kill eggs in public water supplies.

Since its release on Feb. 3, the doctor's 6-page report has spread like wildfire across the Internet, first cropping up in news sites run by GMO and environmental watchdogs and then finding mainstream coverage in outlets like the U.K.’s Telegraph and the New York-based Tech Times. Even actor George Takei shared the story, garnering about 25,000 Facebook likes and almost as many shares.

There's one problem: the report is completely wrong.

Not only does the report convey inaccurate information about Zika virus’ history and speculate about the timetables of microcephaly cases and the use of the larvicide in water treatment, but it ends in a diatribe against other types of mosquito control efforts. Given the clear need for mosquito control to prevent further illnesses -- and not just Zika, but also dengue fever, chikungunya, and yellow fever -- this isn't just ill-conceived, it's actually dangerous.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zika-monsanto-pyriproxyfen-microcephaly_us_56c2712de4b0b40245c79f7c

[Yo_Mama]

5. Not this again. OMG. Try dealing with the evidence.

1) Zika spread to Columbia later than Brazil. Guess what? A few weeks later, they are now reporting Zika problems:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/04/colombia-researchers-discover-zika-virus-link-birth-defects

2) Even in Brazil, not all the Zika problems were reported where the larvacide was sprayed. THIS CLAIM NEVER MADE ANY SENSE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

3) That larvacide has been used for decades. It is used and approved for use in the US in households. If it causes problems, why aren't they seen in the US?

4) Either the virus has mutated to do something differently in the last few years, or the virus effect in a population never exposed to it before is far more severe than known. This virus just started spreading internationally over the last few years.

5) Guillain-Barre syndrome was already reported as being caused by Zika in French Polynesia in the 2013-2014 jump.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2816%2900562-6/abstract
If the virus can cause severe problems with the nervous system in adults, why can't it in fetuses?

6) It is believed that the fetal problems can only occur if the infection occurs during pregnancy, or very shortly before (live virus still circulating in system). Even if the virus has not mutated, the population natively exposed to the virus would almost entirely have exposures before pregnancy occurred, and therefore you would not see the same fetal effects, because you would not have novel infections during pregnancies. Further, babies born to persons in that area would mostly inherit some pre-existing immunities from their mothers. Mosquito-borne infections like this are generally widely spread in their native habitats.

[Warpy]

6. Yes, it's the virus.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35725744

Yes, the study is premature. However, that silly story about larivcide was pulled right out of a conspiracy theorist's arse. The holes in it are vast and have been discussed in brief by another poster.

Monsanto isn't responsible for all the world's ills. Sometimes Mother Nature does the deeds.

[whereisjustice]

7. Corporate expansion disrupting ecosystems and making conditions for overpopulation

of parasites, like mosquitoes, is a definite cause. There's been a major disruption of some sort allowing these mosquitoes to get out of control.

So, is it just deforestation? Or is it a result of overspraying/overcompensating for one pest thereby killing the predator that would normally control the mosquito?

Monsanto might not be responsible for ALL the world's ill's. But it IS responsible (directly and indirectly) for a majority of them.

Follow the money to poverty and sickness. It always leads to the same place.

[NickB79]

15. The root problem is overpopulation of one particular species across the globe

And it's not mosquitoes.

[Orrex]

8. That story is 100% garbage, and welcome to DU.

[paleotn]

9. oh, good lord...

[Archae]

10. Zika virus: Ebola 2.0?

Remember 2014?
When Ebola was this "YUUUUUGE" scourge, that would infect us all and we would all die?

November 2014, Ebola stories disappear.

Hey, it wasn't as bad as faux "news" claimed! How about that!

2016: Zika! OMG! We're all gonna die!

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. That was only if you restricted yourself to the US media

If you bothered reading the world media, the Ebola story continued. The American media had its head up its arse, and thought that a mid-term election was somehow meaningful on the world stage.

This is an international story. Please don't try to get people to look from a US point of view only.

[HelenWheels]

11. Check the environment

and you will find the cause of the birth defects. It is related to some type of chemical exposure.

[Igel]

12. Yes, it is.

It's caused by exposure to a certain form of a chemical called "RNA" recently introduced into the environment, which has furthermore been diabolically encased in an ingenious complex of mass-produced proteins. Of course, RNA spelled out has an unpronounceable chemical name, and you should be sure to eradicate every trace of RNA from your body as soon as possible.

Just a small amount of this variety of RNA can be very dangerous, as the terror-inducing chemical actually pre-empts the body's usual metabolic processes to produce--gasp!--more of itself.

Now, if Monsanto could just find a way to patent this, why, you could say it would have a patent on life itself.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. This study show the virus is implicated

That's because the researchers compared pregnant women infected with the Zika virus with pregnant women who were not infected with Zika virus and lived in the same area — a so-called "case control" study.

"This is the closest we've gotten to (proving) causation," Adalja said. Although more studies are still needed to solidify the link, "for all intents and purposes, this justifies the concern raised early on," that at least a proportion of the microcephaly cases in Brazil were caused by Zika virus, Adalja said.

http://news.yahoo.com/zika-virus-microcephaly-may-tip-iceberg-infant-problems-190031740.html

It is not just 'the environment', whatever you hope.