Zika virus: a new pandemic threat
Autor(es): Al-Qahtani Ahmed Ali, Nazir Nyla, Al-Anazi Mashael R, Rubino Salvatore, Al-Ahdal Mohammed N
Resumo: Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus of the Flaviviridae family - is related to dengue, Chikungunya, West Nile, yellow fever, - Japanese encephalitis viruses. ZIKV was first discovered in Ug-a in 1947. Different species of mosquito from the Aedes genus, mainly A. aegypti - A. albopictus are the vectors responsible for ZIKV infection in humans. It is also reported that ZIKV is transmitted congenitally, sexually, - through blood donation. Until recently, ZIKV outbreaks were sporadic - self-limiting. The first large epidemic was reported from Yap Isl- in 2007 followed by an outbreak of Zika fever in French Polynesia in 2013. Brazil is the epicenter of the current ZIKV epidemic which is rapidly spreading across the Americas. ZIKV infection remained relatively less studied in view of its low case numbers, - low clinical impact relative to other arboviruses. However, all this is set to change with its rapid spread in the Western hemisphere - suspected complications particularly microcephaly in newborn babies with ZIKV infected mothers. ZIKV is expected to substantially add to both short-term - long-term economic burden of the effected countries. Due to the large number of people travelling across the borders - some reported cases of transmission of ZIKV via contaminated blood, screening - identification of asymptomatic infected individuals are important.
Imprenta: Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, v. 10, n. 3, p. 201-207, 2016
Identificador do objeto digital: 10.3855/jidc.8350
Descritores: Chikungunya virus - Chikungunya fever ; Chikungunya virus - Dengue
Data de publicação: 2016
