New worries over Zika as scientist discover that brain damage from infection is not limited to babies

The Zika virus, previously thought to only pose a major threat to developing babies, might also affect adult brains, new research has shown.

This comes as St.Lucia Health officials have confirmed that 26 pregnant women are now infected with Zika and a 46 year old man is battling paralysis after developing Guillan Barre Syndrome Disease, a complication condition linked to Zika. Officials also say there are nearly 800 suspected cases of Zika. The majority of infected persons experienced mild symptoms of the disease.

However, experiments with mice now suggest the virus can get to and damage brain cells in adults, adding another disturbing element to the Zika narrative.

In a fetus, Zika is known to home straight in on developing nerve cells, especially brain cells. The result is catastrophic birth defects — the small head characteristic of microcephaly and profound brain damage.

While some infected babies do not survive to full term, those that do have irreversible brain damage.

Some other viruses are known to prefer brain cells and nerve cells, but Zika is surprising scientists more and more. “There’s a lot we don’t know about Zika,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr Thomas Frieden commented.

The team knew that Zika preferred immature brain cells called stem cells and they were working on recent discoveries that adult brains also carry these immature brain cells. By way of confirmation, Zika got into those brain regions when the mice were infected and appeared to kill some of the stem cells in there. It’s not clear what that might mean to people affected by Zika. Researchers are only beginning to study it and its long-term effects. Adult brains are less vulnerable to damage than those of developing babies, but brain damage can cause epilepsy, personality changes, depression and dementia.

In adults, Zika is also known to cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing condition that some people suffer after a variety of infections. Last week, Puerto Rico reported that 30 people were known to have suffered Guillain Barre  in the Zika epidemic there to date.