The results of the new study are available in the journal Radiology. The material is devoted to what changes in the brain the Zika virus leads to. In total, 17 embryos and newborns were examined, in which a dangerous virus was detected, as well as 28 embryos that were suspected of being infected. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging, brain imaging, and ultrasound. Scientists found similar anomalies in both surveyed categories.
In almost all cases, the researchers observed the expansion of the ventricles of the brain of embryos and newborns. In the vast majority of cases, experts have identified pathologies in the corpus callosum (it is a plexus of nerve fibers that connects both hemispheres of the brain). The infants had an abnormally low volume of brain tissue. It also gave the impression that their skulls were "shriveled". Scientists linked this with brain atrophy and contraction: at an earlier stage of development, this organ was "swollen" by the expansion of the cerebral ventricles.
Photo: Radiological Society of North America
Zika virus is a type of virus of the genus Flavivirus and is carried by the mosquito of the genus Aedes. The virus causes a disease of the same name in humans: if infected, the patient may face a rash, fatigue, headache and joint pain, fever and swelling of the joints.
Until recently, the Zika virus was thought to be practically harmless to humans. Meanwhile, as it turned out, infection can lead to severe disorders in the development of embryos, in particular to microcephaly. In this case, one can see a decrease in the size of the skull and brain while maintaining the normal size of other parts of the body. Microcephaly is accompanied by mental impairment up to its deepest degree - idiocy.
The rapid spread of the Zika virus made WHO experts recognize it as a global threat. In total, according to forecasts of doctors, up to four million people can become infected in the New World.