The recommendation to make all donated blood material subject to check-ups is based on the recent information showing that cases of Zika transmission in Florida are on the rise.
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Tang and researcher Hongjun Song of Johns Hopkins explained repurposing already-approved drugs is a quicker alternative than developing a new medicine.
The other compound is emricasan, a pan-caspase inhibitor that blocked Zika-induced increases in caspase-3 activity and protected human cortical neuroprogenitor cells. “But it’s important to remember that pregnant women remain the high-risk group for Zika, which causes severe birth defects”. “This is a first step toward a therapeutic that can stop transmission of this disease”.
The FDA updated its guidance due to the potential serious health consequences of Zika to pregnant women and children born to women exposed to the virus during pregnancy.
Zika is typically spread through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but evidence has been accumulating that it can also be transmitted through sexual contact and blood transfusions, officials have said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 2,500 Americans have been diagnosed with the virus and 9,000 more in Puerto Rico and USA territories.
Hearing loss is a well-established side effect of several other congenital infections, such as herpes simplex, syphilis, rubella, toxoplasmosis and cytomegalovirus.
The CDC also is advising pregnant women not to travel to an area where active Zika transmission is ongoing, and to use insect repellent and wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts if they are in those areas.
“About 1 percent of donations in Puerto Rico have tested positive for Zika virus”, Marks said.
The researchers hope to begin testing the compounds in animals with ZVI in the near future.
The latest findings were published by the journal Nature Medicine.
The World Health Organization reports that since 2015, 53 countries have reported Zika infections.
The New York Blood Center supplies blood to about 200 hospitals in the northeastern United States, and partners with the Community Blood Center of Kansas City, Missouri. They’ll be asked first thing whether they’ve been to Florida in the last 30 days and, in particular, Miami-Dade County, which has had confirmed cases of mosquito-transmitted Zika.
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They screened 6,000 compounds that were either already approved or were in the process of a clinical trial because they could be made more quickly available to people infected by Zika.
