Zika treatment for pregnant women, fetuses in the offing

A new study of the Zika virus in mice raises hope for a way to protect pregnant women
and their babies from the possible repercussions of being infected, US researchers have 
said. The experimental treatment is derived from antibodies taken from the blood of 
people who have recovered from Zika infections. Tested on pregnant mice, the 
treatment  reduced levels of the virus in the mothers, and also protected their pups from 
the ravages  of the virus.

Zika, spread primarily through mosquitoes, has been known to cause birth defects in 
infants whose mothers are infected during pregnancy . “This is proof of principle that 
Zika virus during pregnancy is treatable, and we already have a human antibody that 
treats it, at least in mice,“ said Dr Michael Diamond of Washington University School 
of Medicine in St. Louis, co-author of the study published on Monday in the journal 
`Nature'.

In the study , the researchers screened 29 Zika-specific antibodies taken from the 
white blood cells of patients who recovered from Zika in fections caused by strains in 
Asia, Africa and the Americas. They found one, called ZIKV-117, that neutralised all of 
the strains. The team then tested the antibodies on pregnant mice one day before and a 
day after infection with Zika.

“The antibody reduces virus in the mother and also in the fetus, and it protects 
against placental and fetal damage,“ said Dr James Crowe of Vanderbilt University 
School of Medicine.

Crowe said he believes it can be ready for human trials in nine to 12 months, “if 
we go flat out“.

Why more women get chikungunya

Lazy' mosquitoes are the reason why women, who tend to spend more time at home, 
are likelier to get chikungunya, researchers have said. A new study that analysed a 2012 
outbreak in a Bangladesh village said more than 25% of the cases were spread within 
one household,

while half occurred in households less than 200m away, creating small clusters of the
disease.

Source: The times of India