WTOP : reported that Doctors tie Zika virus to heart problems in some adults

For the first time, doctors have tied infection with the Zika virus to possible new heart problems in adults. Eight of the nine developed a dangerous heart rhythm problem, and six of the nine developed heart failure, which occurs when a weakened heart can't pump enough blood. After a big outbreak in Brazil in 2015, Zika spread throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and elsewhere. She studied nine patients, ages 30 to 64, treated at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Caracas who developed heart symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue an average of 10 days after typical Zika symptoms began. The virus also spread locally in parts of southern Florida and Texas last year.

Zika virus may have harmful effect on heart

Zika virus may have harmful effect on heart: studyWashington, Mar 11, 2017 (PTI)The study is the first to report cardiovascular complications related to this virus, researchers said. Of these, five patients had heart failure with low ejection fraction, when the heart muscle does not pump blood as well as it should, and one had heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, when the heart becomes stiff and cannot relax or fill properly. In the study of nine adult patients with Zika and no previous history of cardiovascular disease, all but one developed a heart rhythm problem and two-thirds had evidence of heart failure. "We know that other mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and chikungunya virus, can affect the heart, so we thought we might see the same with Zika. Heart failure was present in six cases.

Yellow fever outbreak in Brazil could be new Zika virus

Health experts fear a random outbreak of yellow fever in Brazil could affect millions if it isn't contained. Vaccination against yellow fever fell in Brazil's southeast in recent decades because the virus had in large part been eradicated from the region. Brazil's Health Ministry said Tuesday that since December, when the yellow fever outbreak was first detected, there have been 127 confirmed deaths, with another 106 under investigation. WHAT IS YELLOW FEVER? A viral disease found in tropical Africa and the Americas, yellow fever mainly affects humans and monkeys.


collected by :Sandra Alex
To follow all the new news about

VIRUSES and INFECTIONS