Zika virus.

Me and my wife are going to Aruba in March. No sign of zika there yet. I normally wouldn't care but we're trying to have another kid so if she end up pregnant it could be an issue. :embarrassed:
 
Tiltsta said:
No, not really. The majority of human infections are believed to be asymptomatic or sufficiently mild that health care professionals are not consulted. The big symptoms in a healthy adult include fever, arthritis, rash, and conjunctivitis. Hospitalization is rare, and the only real lasting issue for some people is persistent arthritis pain. At least two cases have presented with hemorrhagic fever like symptoms, but it is so rare that it isn't clear how this occurred.

Pregnant women may transmit virus across the placenta to a fetus, and this may (and MAY is the key word) result in significant neurological development issues resulting in microcephaly. It is unclear how connected virus infection is to this condition, as it is appears a very rare outcome. I know the media is hyping the shit out of this angle, but we are talking about a very small number of fetuses/infants, and it will require more effort to determine what role the virus plays, if any, in the microcephaly. There is also a possible link to enhanced development of GBS in humans, but again, the numbers of cases are too small to really draw conclusions. The recent outbreaks should add more data to clear up these issues, and hopefully in a positive way.

There are NO transmissions of this virus in the United States. The mosquitos that spread it do live here, so it is possible it could come here, but for now the cases you hear about in the US are traveler related.
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Thanks for that.

I know that the media always wants to put the most sensational spin on things, so its nice to get a more level headed take on the situation.

I've been frustrated trying to determine what percentage of zika pregnancies result in birth defects. 2%? 10%? 97%?

Who knows. All the media wants to report is

OMG 4,000 BIRTH DEFECTS EVERYBODY FREAK OUT
 
It is pretty hard to really know those numbers before all the public health surveillance data is collected and available. I know that isn't a satisfying answer.

I suppose the positive thing to look at is that your daughter was not born with microcephaly, so based on current understanding she is safe, as microcephaly isn't the kind of thing one develops ex utero. I get that there are still potential concerns that there could be other, milder neurological implications that do not manifest until later in development. Certainly the link to GBS is a complication, but again, this tends to be acute situation for the infected, not for infants post exposure. There may be other conditions that develop later, but there currently isn't any data to suggest that.
 
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Thanks for sharing your expertise, tiltsta.

I'm starting to see Facebook posts about how big pharma and government and blah blah blah.
It's all based on the idea that we didn't know about it two weeks ago and now there's a vaccine.

I wanted to copy and paste your explanation above (and keeping it as an anonymous source), but when I started reading a couple of the posts already there, I realised it wasn't worth the effort.

Someone actually mentioned an article about how it's been known since the 70s, but no one wants to have anything to do with truth and logic.


Anyway, the point is, I'm smarter because you share your knowledge.
Thanks for that.
 
Yeah, people are crazy. I've posted it before, but vaccines are not a particularly profitable market segment for pharma, and very few companies even bother with development these days. The idea that some pharma company is going to make a ton of money on a vaccine for a virus that infects the tropics (where poverty is a real issue) is crazy. If some government and drug conspiracy was going to release a virus and cure for profit, why not do it someplace affluent like Orange County or NYC????


As for vaccine efforts, Zika is related to Yellow Fever Virus, and the Yellow Fever vaccine (called 17D) is probably the most successful live attenuated virus vaccine in history. It isn't much of a leap to put some Zika structural proteins into the yellow fever virus 17D genome. This is the basis for a number of Dengue vaccines...and for other flaviviruses too. If I was into vaccines, I would just make ALL the flaviviruses in a yellow fever backbone....just in case. I'm sure this has been done already by others, hence the speed in development of a vaccine strategy.
 
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dodgechargerfan said:
Thanks for sharing your expertise, tiltsta.

I'm starting to see Facebook posts about how big pharma and government and blah blah blah.
It's all based on the idea that we didn't know about it two weeks ago and now there's a vaccine.

I wanted to copy and paste your explanation above (and keeping it as an anonymous source), but when I started reading a couple of the posts already there, I realised it wasn't worth the effort.

Someone actually mentioned an article about how it's been known since the 70s, but no one wants to have anything to do with truth and logic.


Anyway, the point is, I'm smarter because you share your knowledge.
Thanks for that.
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Its amazing that an invention like the internet that has so much potential for the advancement of human knowledge and potential is in fact a vector for the worst pestilences of all - ignorance, hate, fear and greed.

I'm very grateful for the folks on this forum who can share knowledge and other forms of discourse without the asshattery inherent in the the rest of the social internet.
 
dodgechargerfan said:
Thanks for sharing your expertise, tiltsta.

I'm starting to see Facebook posts about how big pharma and government and blah blah blah.
It's all based on the idea that we didn't know about it two weeks ago and now there's a vaccine.

I wanted to copy and paste your explanation above (and keeping it as an anonymous source), but when I started reading a couple of the posts already there, I realised it wasn't worth the effort.

Someone actually mentioned an article about how it's been known since the 70s, but no one wants to have anything to do with truth and logic.


Anyway, the point is, I'm smarter because you share your knowledge.
Thanks for that.
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Actually, Zika was first identified in 1947, so we have known about it for almost 70 years. It certainly isn't new. Even human infections have been known since the late 40's. The news does a great job of making stories start from the moment THEY started covering it.
 
Tiltsta said:
Actually, Zika was first identified in 1947, so we have known about it for almost 70 years. It certainly isn't new. Even human infections have been known since the late 40's. The news does a great job of making stories start from the moment THEY started covering it.
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Yeah, I remembered that from this thread.
They didn't cite their article. So, I'd guess that it referred to the mouse inoculation from the 70s.


And hey, if the news delivery system can't reinvent itself, then it's got to invent something. It might as well be the news.
(I resisted using the word journalism because that's not fair to real journalists. And I stress the word real. They exist, but I fear they are a monority voice these days.)
 
dodgechargerfan said:
Yeah, I remembered that from this thread.
They didn't cite their article. So, I'd guess that it referred to the mouse inoculation from the 70s.


And hey, if the news delivery system can't reinvent itself, then it's got to invent something. It might as well be the news.
(I resisted using the word journalism because that's not fair to real journalists. And I stress the word real. They exist, but I fear they are a monority voice these days.)
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i agree that there are some real journalists out there and are likely working for the big broadcast companies. unfortunately, good journalism doesn't sell anywhere near as well as fear mongering does, and so that's what the big broadcast companies push.
 
mongooz said:
i agree that there are some real journalists out there and are likely working for the big broadcast companies. unfortunately, good journalism doesn't sell anywhere near as well as fear mongering does, and so that's what the big broadcast companies push.
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Exactly.
 
Now they are running around about sexual transmission of Zika. This has been suspected since 2008. Also, even if someone at peak viremia can transmit virus via sex doesn't mean this is a major or significant route of transmission. Mosquitoes are the major route.
 
Tiltsta said:
Now they are running around about sexual transmission of Zika. This has been suspected since 2008. Also, even if someone at peak viremia can transmit virus via sex doesn't mean this is a major or significant route of transmission. Mosquitoes are the major route.
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You will never work for the media. You make too much sense.
 
Just overreaction about traveler associated Zika virus cases. Florida has two species of mosquito that can transmit Zika virus, and I suspect the department of health is concerned that these traveler cases could transmit Zika virus into the local mosquito and animal population, establishing a sylvatic cycle here in Florida. The state of emergency thing likely allows for invoking of quarantine rules and administrative budget expansions for additional public health monitoring.
 
Tiltsta said:
Just overreaction about traveler associated Zika virus cases. Florida has two species of mosquito that can transmit Zika virus, and I suspect the department of health is concerned that these traveler cases could transmit Zika virus into the local mosquito and animal population, establishing a sylvatic cycle here in Florida. The state of emergency thing likely allows for invoking of quarantine rules and administrative budget expansions for additional public health monitoring.
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Here in the snow belt a state of emergency is most often invoked because it suspends the cumbersome procurement process that's necessary to hire a contractor for something.
That process is good for preventing bid fixing and other racketeering type stuff, but it's no good for "hey we need to go spray this swamp with pesticide sometime this month"
 
I am amazed this virus "calamity" didn't further fuck up the stock market somehow. Everything else seems to.....
Tiltsta said:
We are working on finally building a reporter virus and infectious clone to look for drugs to treat this thing.
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May I suggest starting with all of FOX News reporters...and,please, take your time...
 
Who doesn't like a little head? Am I right?
2rYo5g.gif
 
I get to be on the local TV news on Monday to discuss research programs on Zika virus.

I should mention the whole thing was created by the CIA and Monsanto to spread the hidden agenda of the Freemasons.

I think this is a pretty good yardstick to determine that we have reached maximum hype.
 
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