tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186593343917545414.post3224060569765942420..comments2024-03-10T12:29:30.004-07:00Comments on pediatric neurology: Zika virus and the adultGalen Breningstall, MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07170864203251456228noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186593343917545414.post-2190721143314294812016-09-13T09:47:25.433-07:002016-09-13T09:47:25.433-07:00Italian researchers say they've found evidence...Italian researchers say they've found evidence Zika can affect the brains of adults, and may damage memory.<br /><br />The virus is now known to cause devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, and there has been some indirect evidence it might get into the brains of adults and children. Now there's more evidence that the virus, once considered benign and boring, is anything but.<br /><br />A letter published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases describes the case of a 32-year-old volunteer nurse infected with Zika in the Dominican Republic.<br /><br />Nine days after she came back from a tour of duty in the Dominican Republic, she visited a clinic with a rash, headache and weakness. She soon had trouble walking and was hospitalized for these neurological symptoms…<br /><br />"Complete neuropsychologic examinations (on days nine and 10) showed mild deficits in attention and mental processing speed and mental flexibility and moderate deficits in verbal and nonverbal memory tasks," the team at the National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome wrote.<br /><br />"In our case, the patient reported early neurologic symptoms and moderate memory impairment in neuropsychologic examinations, all features consistent with the diagnosis of Zika virus-related encephalitis," they added…<br /><br />"It raises the possibility that Zika is not simply a transient infection in adult humans and that exposure in the adult brain could have an effect on long-term memory or the risk for depression," they wrote…<br /><br />The Italian nurse recovered fully after three weeks.<br /><br />http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/zika-affected-woman-s-brain-memory-doctors-say-n647096<br /><br />Nicastri E, Castilletti C, Balestra P, Galgani S, Ippolito G. Zika virus infection in the central nervous system and female genital tract [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Dec [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2212.161280<br /><br />http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/12/16-1280_articleGalen Breningstall, MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07170864203251456228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186593343917545414.post-84321431404254060272016-08-28T21:22:23.496-07:002016-08-28T21:22:23.496-07:00Researchers from the World Federation of Neurology...Researchers from the World Federation of Neurology's Work Group on Zika have reported the first confirmed case of a new Zika-associated neurological complication in adults.<br />The case, described in a paper published in the Journal of Neurological Sciences, occurred to a 62-year-old Honduran male patient who had traveled to Venezuela. The patient presented acute sensory polyneuropathy during the active phase of his ZIka infection.<br /><br />"Our patient is the first confirmed Zika infection case report associated with an acute sensory polyneuropathy which began during the acute infectious phase," said Professor Marco T. Medina, Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, in a press release. "This suggests a probable direct viral inflammatory process affecting sensory nerves, but an autoimmune etiology cannot be definitely excluded."<br /><br />Sensory polyneuropathy or peripheral neuropathy is a condition that occurs as a result of nerve damage in the peripheral nervous system, which is responsible of transmitting information between the central nervous system and the rest of the body.<br /><br />Patients with sensory polyneuropathy may experience gradual onset of numbness, prickling or tingling in the feet and hands; sharp, jabbing, throbbing, freezing or burning pain; extreme sensitivity to touch, lack of coordination and falling; muscle weakness or paralysis if motor nerves are affected.<br /><br />Additional symptoms may present if the autonomic nerves are also damaged. These symptoms include heat intolerance and altered sweating; bowel, bladder and digestive problems; changes in blood pressure, causing dizziness and lightheadedness.<br /><br />Zika virus is known to cause microcephaly with brain malformations in infants. There are also high occurrences of outbreaks of GuGuillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) associated with Zika virus infections. Other neurological conditions linked to Zika infection include meningoencephalitis or acute myelitis.<br /><br />"Zika virus infection has become a new emergent neuropathological agent with several neurological complications," said lead author Dr. John England, a Professor and Chair of Neurology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine and Chair of the Work Group of Zika, in a statement.<br /><br />http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/27575/20160827/zika-update-new-zika-associated-neurological-disease-in-adults-confirmed.htm<br /><br />Marco T. Medina, John D. England, Ivette Lorenzana, Marco Medina-Montoya, Diego Alvarado, Mario De Bastos, Santiago Fontiveros, Manuel Sierra, Francis Contreras. Zika virus associated with sensory polyneuropathy. Journal of the Neurological Sciences. In press.<br /><br />Zika virus infection has become a new emergent neuropathological agent with several neurological complications. Cao-Lormeau et al. reported an outbreak of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia. A syndrome associated with congenital Zika virus infection (mainly microcephaly with brain malformations) was reported initially in Brazil and how now been confirmed elsewhere. Other neurological complications associated with Zika virus such as meningoencephalitis and acute myelitis have also been reported. We now describe the first case of reversible sensory polyneuropathy associated with acute Zika virus infection.Galen Breningstall, MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07170864203251456228noreply@blogger.com