Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
newswire.rockefeller.edu
Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
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Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#2[deleted]
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#3Even without seeing headlines like this, I have felt for a while that Zika is being downplayed in the media. I remember mass hysteria over mad cow disease, bird flu, and ebola. Zika seems at least on par with these to me. This disease is so new that we really don't know how long women have to wait before they can get pregnant safely-- if ever. We know that it stays latent in semen for a long time after being infected. Certainly it sounds very scary.
But for the most part it's being reported by the media in a very calm manner and I see relatively no panic. And that's not to say that mass panic is the right response to Zika, but just that our global reaction to Zika seems wildly inconsistent with our super-diseases of yesteryears. When the ebola crisis was going on across the Atlantic ocean, I saw many normal (albeit misguided) people in my Midwestern supermarket stockpiling bottled water and dry goods.
Meanwhile with Zika, they're estimating that 25% of Puerto Rico will have the disease before 2017. And yet I don't feel any real sense of panic in this country.
What gives? Is society just collectively becoming more reasonable? I find that hard to believe.
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#4I can't help it feel that more effort will go into mitigating Zika if adult males are at risk.
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#5Even without seeing headlines like this, I have felt for a while that Zika is being downplayed in the media. I remember mass hysteria over mad cow disease, bird flu, and ebola. Zika seems at least on par with these to me. This disease is so new that we really don't know how long women have to wait before they can get pregnant safely-- if ever. We know that it stays latent in semen for a long time after being infected…
I guess as Wikipedia has it the infection "often causes no or only mild symptoms." Even so it's not something you want. Personally I think they should crack on with the Oxitec GM mozzies which on balance of probabilities should cause far less problems than the disease. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/14/florida-keys...
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#6Even without seeing headlines like this, I have felt for a while that Zika is being downplayed in the media. I remember mass hysteria over mad cow disease, bird flu, and ebola. Zika seems at least on par with these to me. This disease is so new that we really don't know how long women have to wait before they can get pregnant safely-- if ever. We know that it stays latent in semen for a long time after being infected…
It's not exactly new ( first studied in 1947 https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/zika-statement/ ), and basically spreads as quickly as any other STD ( the mosquitos that carry it typically travel no more than 400 meters http://www.who.int/denguecontrol/mosquito/en/ ).
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#7Even without seeing headlines like this, I have felt for a while that Zika is being downplayed in the media. I remember mass hysteria over mad cow disease, bird flu, and ebola. Zika seems at least on par with these to me. This disease is so new that we really don't know how long women have to wait before they can get pregnant safely-- if ever. We know that it stays latent in semen for a long time after being infected…
I'm guessing it's along the lines of "Zika seems to only affect pregnant women, I'm either A) not a woman or B) not planning on getting pregnant any time soon, this will all be over by then."
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#8Even without seeing headlines like this, I have felt for a while that Zika is being downplayed in the media. I remember mass hysteria over mad cow disease, bird flu, and ebola. Zika seems at least on par with these to me. This disease is so new that we really don't know how long women have to wait before they can get pregnant safely-- if ever. We know that it stays latent in semen for a long time after being infected…
I'm guessing it's along the lines of "Zika seems to only affect pregnant women, I'm either A) not a woman or B) not planning on getting pregnant any time soon, this will all be over by then."
Zika has a number of neurological and other impacts on adults, as well as its impact on fetuses.
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#9So, I know disrupting ecologies can have profound consequences that aren't obvious ahead of time, but let's do a thought experiment. Let's assume we have a 100% effective way to kill all mosquitoes within 18-24 months.
What are the known disruptions and consequences of this? Do we have ways to combat problems due to that?
What are the probable/theoretical distuptions and consequences? Do we have have to combat these?
Not that I'm suggesting we do this, but with our current understanding, how much trouble do we think it would cause in the case of mosquitoes?
Re: Zika Infection May Affect Adult Brain Cells
#10Even without seeing headlines like this, I have felt for a while that Zika is being downplayed in the media. I remember mass hysteria over mad cow disease, bird flu, and ebola. Zika seems at least on par with these to me. This disease is so new that we really don't know how long women have to wait before they can get pregnant safely-- if ever. We know that it stays latent in semen for a long time after being infected…
The Olympics.
1. The journalists really want to travel to Rio to report on the games, so they evaluate the risks rationally and suddenly the risk does not seem so great, none of them ever plan on traveling to rural West Africa.
2. News organizations don't want the Olympics cancelled. Olympics == page views.