지카 관련 성인 뇌 장애 발견+ 브라질 연구팀, 지카 바이러스 소두증 유발 첫 입증
More unsettling discovery related to the Zika virus.
Researchers in Brazil believe there may be a connection between the Zika virus and a brain disease in adults.
This latest discovery adds to the growing list of possible neurological damage associated with the mosquito-borne virus... and is stoking fears over how far the current outbreak will evolve.
Kim Ji-yeon reports.
Scientists at Restoration Hospital in Recife, Brazil have discovered a new Zika-linked brain disorder in adults.
It is an autoimmune syndrome called "acute disseminated encephalomyelitis" or A-D-E-M for short, and causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord.
This new finding adds to the long list of neurological damage the Zika virus causes... including other autoimmune disorders like Guillain-Barre syndrome and birth defects.
Scientists in Brazil also say they have conclusively proven, through experiments, the
long-suspected link that Zika causes microcephaly in babies, defined by abnormally small heads and sometimes developmental problems.
In a separate study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, researchers showed what could happen when neural stem cells are infected by the Zika virus.
In less than a week, exposed neurospheres were found to have abnormalities or were killed off while further tests showed the virus reduced the growth of infected organoids by 40 percent compared to the control group.
The scientists believe their findings corroborates the surge of microcephaly in Brazil in recent months.
The country has confirmed more than 940 cases of Zika-linked microcephaly since the outbreak started last May.
It's still investigating nearly 4-thousand-300 additional suspected cases.
Another study of 5-thousand pregnant women, mostly from Colombia, due to give birth in May and June is also expected to help solidify the connection between Zika and the birth defect.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.
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