Zika could be harmful to adult brains, spread to other Gulf states

The U.S. should brace itself for even more Zika headaches, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), because the virus could be around for a while and spread to even more areas. One study found it could be even more harmful than scientists originally believed.  

The warning came Aug. 21 from the NIH’s Director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci. He told ABC News that local transmissions in Texas and Louisiana are probably next, especially since last week’s flooding in Louisiana could leave behind perfect-for-mosquito-breeding spots of standing water.

Other areas of the U.S. could be at risk too, with climate change contributing to a lengthening of mosquito season by about a month in parts of the country, the Washington Post reported.  

A new area of local transmission in Miami Beach was already reported. The CDC expanded an earlier warning advising pregnant women to avoid a different Miami neighborhood to include all of Miami-Dade County in Florida. Five people are believed to have been infected in Miami Beach’s South Beach neighborhood, in addition to the 37 people believed infected in Miami.

According to CBS News, school officials in these areas plan to hand out long-sleeve shirts and long pants to protect from mosquito bites and encourage students to wear bug spray to school as the new academic year begins Aug. 22. There will be nearly 11,000 kids attending school in the affected areas.

The CDC travel advisories, the first of their kind within the U.S., were issued because of the risk of microcephaly and other birth defects in infected fetuses.

But the virus could be harmful to adult brains too, according to a new study. It was previously thought that Zika’s effects were short term in adults and children, only causing flu-like symptoms from which patients could easily recover.

But a study published Aug. 18 in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Researchers found that the virus infected and damaged areas of the brain associated with memory and learning when injected in adult mice. It’s the same areas the virus targets when infecting fetal brains. The findings could have implications for kids who get Zika too—those parts of their brains are still developing. Researchers said they don’t know whether those damaged brain cells could repair themselves after recovery or if there are long-term consequences for reduced cognitive ability.  

And according to the Wall Street Journal, other research has shown a connection between Zika and encephalitis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The immediate threat could be around for as long as two years, Fauci told ABC. That’s because the CDC and other health officials will need to time to understand the virus and then execute containment and prevention measures.

Several private and governmental organizations, including the NIH, are in the process of developing Zika vaccines, though most are still in early trial stages. And CDC and state officials on the ground in Florida are working to map out transmissions and contain mosquito populations through bug spray, according to CBS.