Zika

Prolonged viremia in Zika-infected mothers is associated with a sevenfold higher risk for neonatal or fetal adverse outcomes compared with pregnancies without prolonged viremia, researchers reported.

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can obtain and transmit Zika virus more easily than a sub-Saharan Africa-dwelling relative, potentially explaining why the Americas suffered a large Zika outbreak and Africa did not, researchers said.

Prior Zika virus infection can significantly increase the risk for severe dengue, similar to a prior dengue infection, which may pose issues for vaccine development for both viruses, according to a study published in Science.

Infants without congenital Zika virus who were exposed to Zika in utero are at risk for abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes during their first 18 months of life, according to a longitudinal study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Researchers found significant gaps in existing model-based predictions of Aedes mosquito distribution in the United States, reporting in a recent study that “the edges of the geographic range of these important species remain uncertain.”

The FDA has granted fast track designation to ANX005, a novel treatment for Guillain-Barré syndrome, Annexon Biosciences announced.

Based on an analysis of international travel patterns, mosquito modeling and clinical virus genomic sequencing, researchers said they identified an unreported and undetected Zika outbreak that occurred in Cuba in 2017, according to a recent study published in Cell.

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers developed a highly sensitive quantitative PCR, or qPCR, method for the detection and quantitation of dengue and Zika virus in individual mosquitoes using the portable Hyris bCUBE device, introducing a new tool for mosquito surveillance in areas facing outbreaks, according to data presented at ASM Microbe.