Zika virus can duplicate itself in the vagina and cause serious infections, depending on results of a study published in the journal Cell. Findings observed in the laboratory on mice.
Researchers at Yale University in the United States conducted a study in mice to study the sexual transmission of Zika virus.
During early pregnancy, the Zika virus spreads to the fetal brain
The mice were infected through their vaginas with Zika virus at the start of their pregnancy. Scientists have observed that it has spread throughout the genitals and into the fetal brain. These infections have also been associated with fetal weight loss.
“We saw significant virus duplication throughout the genital tissue for up to four or five days,” said Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunobiology at Yale and clinical expert at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Although the same phenomenon remains to be demonstrated in humans, “this finding may be important for all women, not just pregnant women,” says Akiko Iwasaki. “The vagina is an organ where the virus can duplicate and potentially be transmitted to partners”, underlines the researcher.
This finding is also important, given the fact that according to a previous study, Zika virus can also persist in semen for up to 180 days.
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