Zika virus infection, transmission, associated neurological disorders and birth abnormalities: A review of progress in research, priorities and knowledge gaps

On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization declared that the cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders constitute public health emergency of international concern. Furthermore, few studies demonstrated that there was an increased evidence of causal relationship of Zika v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
Main Authors: Yitades Gebre, Nikkiah Forbes, Teshome Gebre
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2016.08.008
https://doaj.org/article/f93e4bf7eea348aa8ef0958b7838c110
Description
Summary:On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization declared that the cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders constitute public health emergency of international concern. Furthermore, few studies demonstrated that there was an increased evidence of causal relationship of Zika virus (ZIKAV) infection and microcephaly, birth abnormalities and neurological disorders such as Guillain–Barré syndrome. ZIKAV transmission occurs mainly by the bite of infected mosquitos (Aedes species), but there are also reports that infections could occur via the placenta, breast milk, saliva, blood transfusion and sex. This article reviews the global efforts, progress in scientific research to understand the pathogenesis of ZIKAV infection & disease, clinical presentations, congenital transmission and autoimmune neurological disorders. The paper further explores the knowledge gaps, future priority research agenda for strategic response including vector control and prevention. We conducted a systematic literature review to synthesise available evidence on ZIKAV infection and its vector and host interaction from electronic databases.