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Zika Virus Officially Causes Rare Microcephaly Birth Defects, CDC Says (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday the Zika virus causes microcephaly and other birth defects. "This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak. It is now clear that the virus causes microcephaly," CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden said. The CDC previously said it was likely the virus in pregnant women was the cause of the rare birth defect that results in an underdeveloped brain and that more evidence and research were needed to conclusively say it is causal. "We started using criteria about a month ago to see which ones had been met and which ones had not been met. We wanted to do this in a systematic and calculated way," said Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, lead author of the New England Journal of Medicine special report. There's was also no alternative explanation to account for the increase in these congenital defects among women who had the Zika virus during pregnancy. The CDC says they are not yet ready to conclude the virus causes Guillain-Barre syndrome. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported more than 1,000 cases of microcephaly and other fetal malformations believed to be associated with the Zika virus from six countries.
I am still waiting for some information on why the Zika virus causes these defects. So far all that has been established is that they are linked. That isn't good enough to prove a vaccine is even the correct answer. I am not virologist or a neuroscientist or immunologist, or even a medical professional. Still for all the information I have got on it could be that an elevated presence of Zika anti-bodies causes birth defects!
While a vaccine is 'likely' to be the right solution and therefore should be worked on its entirely possible that all the issues are actually auto-immune triggered by Zika. If that proved to be the case given Zika is harmless most of the time to adults, a vaccination campaign might be exactly the wrong public health move.
Caution is needed here.
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I am not virologist or a neuroscientist or immunologist, or even a medical professional.
No need to mention that, t was obvious from the rest of your post. Certain viruses are able to attack stem cells, some of them cause miscarriages, some just damage the cell and cause severe defects. Google is your friend, anti-vaxxers are not your friend.
Someone forgetting that malaria was common in North America as far north as southern Quebec up until 100 years ago when swamp draining and spraying became the norm. Simply because you don't think it's actually a problem or "a real dangerous pandemic" doesn't mean it won't cause serious problems for general healthcare.
Om, nomnomnom...
Abortion is the only smart choicefor a woman who finds she's pregnant and positive for Zika at the same time.
Release those GMO mosquitos that eliminate the species spreading Zika