Zika virus infection in the genital tract of non-pregnant females: a systematic review

ABSTRACT This review provides a general overview on the positivity and persistence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in female genital tract (FGT) of non-pregnant women and animals, as well as in cell cultures, and its influence on FGT health. We performed a systematic review based on the PRISMA statement to ide...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
Main Authors: Fabrício Morelli, Raquel Pantarotto Souza, Taís Elisângela da Cruz, Gabrielle Marconi Zago Ferreira Damke, Edilson Damke, Tamy Tuani Suehiro, Vânia Ramos Sela da Silva, Marcia Edilaine Lopes Consolaro
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2020
Subjects:
Zika virus
Female
Non-pregnant
Genital tract
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Prisma
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-9946202062016
https://doaj.org/article/aac1a903776a45b386b4812d6ca15e0b
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT This review provides a general overview on the positivity and persistence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in female genital tract (FGT) of non-pregnant women and animals, as well as in cell cultures, and its influence on FGT health. We performed a systematic review based on the PRISMA statement to identify studies focused on “Zika virus” and “non-pregnant female” in PubMed, Embase, Scopus Scholar and Web of Knowledge databases of full-text papers and abstracts published in English, with no restrictions regarding the initial date of publication, up to August 2019. Our search terms yielded 625 records, that were 108 after removal of duplicates, leaving 517 items for title and abstract reviews. Of these, 475 did not meet the inclusion criteria, leaving 42 records for full-text review and resulting in the exclusion of 6 additional records. The remaining 36 met our inclusion criteria. Variations were observed regarding the presence and persistence of ZIKV in lower and upper genital samples. However, the FGT was the place in which ZIKV RNA has been detected, sometimes for relatively long periods, even after the clearance from blood and urine. In addition to the vagina and cervix, the endometrium, uterus and ovary (oocytes and follicles) could also be involved in persistent ZIKV infections. Further prospective studies are needed to assess the effect of ZIKV on FGT health.

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