A Global Concern on Zika Virus: Transmission, Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment (original) (raw)

Zika Virus: A Surprising Savage Infection Worldwide

Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal

The outbreak of zika virus belonging to the flavivirus genus was first reported in 1947 in the monkey species in Uganda. Then it was first isolated from the Aedes mosquito’s species. Recent outbreaks have been reported in India also. The main host of the virus is humans like all other flaviviruses. Although the fatality rate is not so high but the effects are seen majorly on the fetus when pregnant women gets infected. No perfect treatment or vaccine has been developed yet to treat the disease. In India also few cases are now being reported and it shows that the outbreak of the virus is just not limited to Brazil and America but now also to Asian countries as well and gradually worldwide its infection will spread through. This article deals with the development of the zika virus from 1947 to 2018 and the preventive measures in order to prevent future outbreaks have been considered.

Zika virus: An emerging challenge to public health worldwide

Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus that was first isolated from Zika forest, Uganda, in 1947. Since its inception, major and minor outbreaks have been documented from several parts of world. Aedes spp. mosquitoes are the primary vectors of ZIKV, but the virus can also be transmitted through sexual practices, materno-fetal transmission, and blood transfusion. The clinical presentations of symptomatic ZIKV infections are similar to dengue and chikungunya, including fever, headache, arthralgia, retro-orbital pain, conjunctivitis, and rash. ZIKV often causes mild illness in the majority of cases, but in some instances, it is linked with congenital microcephaly and autoimmune disorders like Guillain–Barré syndrome. The recent Indian ZIKV outbreak suggests that the virus is circulating in the South East Asian region and may cause new outbreaks in future. At present, no specific vaccines or antivirals are available to treat ZIKV, so management and control of ZIKV infections rely m...

An overview of the current literature of Zika virus

2021

Zika virus is a member of the family of Flaviviridae, which is primarily spread to humans by mosquito bites. It has been linked to microcephaly in neonates, and as such, it poses a significant risk to human pregnancy. Zika virus infection is also implicated in other severe neurological disorders such as Guillain-Barre syndrome. There is currently no vaccine available to treat Zika virus disease, and as such, it represents a serious challenge to public health. Antigenic similarities between Zika and dengue can suggest artificially high infection rates of Zika within specific population groups. Here, we review recent literature and provide an update on the status of the Zika outbreak, including a description of available medical countermeasure options and current diagnosis methodology.

Zika virus: A Public Health Emergency?

Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences

Zika virus (ZV) is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys and later identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda. Outbreaks of ZV disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific and it has reached pandemic levels in many countries now. It is a single stranded positive-sense RNA virus under the genus Flavivirus. The virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and no reservoir is known till date. Zika virus infection, known as Zika fever, often causes no or only mild symptoms in human that can include mild fever, conjunctivitis, skin rashes, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache similar to a mild form of dengue fever. Zika fever in pregnant women is implicated to abnormal brain development in their fetuses that may result in miscarriage and microcephaly. Diagnosis of ZV infection can only be confirmed by laboratory testing for the presence of ZV RNA in the blood or other body fluids, such as urine or saliva. There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites. A preventive vaccine is likely to come up in near future as the virus is considered to be a relatively innocuous one. Recognition of the spread of ZV and the impact of ZV on human health will require collaboration between clinicians, public health officials and high-quality reference laboratories.

A Review on Zika Virus: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis and Clinical Outcomes

International Journal of Pathogen Research

A single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family, the Zika virus is mainly spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Zika virus infection was originally thought to be a mild and self-limiting illness when it was first discovered in Uganda in 1947. Infection in pregnant women, causes serious congenital abnormalities, including microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormally small head and brain size, was only discovered in 2015 as a result of a significant outbreak in Brazil. Since then, the Zika virus has caused on-going outbreaks throughout the globe, raising serious concerns about public health. Despite significant research efforts, there is currently no cure or vaccine for Zika virus infection, and mosquito control and safe sexual behaviour continue to be the major ways to cut down on transmission. It is crucial to maintain surveillance and study in order to comprehend the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical outcomes of Zika virus infection and to create efficient prevention and t...

Zika virus: epidemiology, clinical aspects, diagnosis, and control of infection

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2018

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging pathogen of huge public health significance to human beings. Although majority of infections are benign with self-limiting symptoms, the recent outbreak has established an association with the increased incidence of some congenital anomalies such as microcephaly. In other words, due to the large extent of the virus and mosquito vectors, the infection has become a thoughtful health problem for human societies, though now, there are no antiviral therapies or vaccines against this virus. In spite of extensive research carried out by scientists, not so much information has been gathered about this viral infection. In the current review, we prepared an overview of the remarkable progress made in understanding about the epidemiology, immunology, clinical presentation, and diagnosis methods of ZIKV infection.

An Update on the Transmission, Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Zika Virus Infection

Zika virus is an arthropod-borne flavivirus, related to other flaviviruses such as dengue virus, yellow fever virus, and West Nile virus. Though Zika virus was first isolated in 1947, virus remained in relative obscurity for nearly 70 years. The epidemiology of Zika virus changed since 2007 when an outbreak occurred on Yap Island of the Federated States of Micronesia. Then, Zika virus was introduced into Brazil from the Pacific Islands and spread rapidly throughout the Americas. Zika virus has infected over a million people in the countries of South and Central America. Zika virus infection generally leads to self limiting mild, febrile illness. However, many of the recent outbreaks were linked to upsurge in cases of Guillan Barré syndrome and a rise in infants born with microcephaly. Because of these complications and rapid spread of the Zika virus infections, the world health organization declared Zika fever as a public health emergency of international concern. This review describes the current understanding about the transmission, pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis of Zika virus infection.

Zika virus: A review article

The Pharma Innovation Journal, 2018

Zika virus, a flavivirus which is spread by Aedes mosquitoes, was considered as innocent pathogen while restricted to the African and Asian population. However, after reaching the Americas in March 2015, it became a global threat. Alterations in methylation of Zika virus genomic RNA has significant impact on virus production. Zika virus was initially thought to cause asymptomic or only mild, self-limiting symptoms, but more severe cases and the sequela of Guillain-Barre syndrome have now been recognized. In utero exposure has been observed to result in a congenital syndrome marked by and a range of other brain anomalies. Although vaccine development is an active area of research, there is currently no vaccine of treatment for Zika virus infection. Continued epidemiological monitoring as well as basic research into the biology, pathogenesis (virus-host interaction), and immunology of Zika virus and Zika fever is needed to develop effective counter-measures and vaccines.