Zika virus outbreak: an overview of the experimental therapeutics and treatment

VirusDisease, Feb 2016

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a new emerging threat around the globe which might be responsible for microcephaly and Guillain–Barre syndrome in the infants. Recently, ZIKV outbreak has caused a public health crisis in Brazil after being linked to a sharp increase in birth defects. ZIKV is ssRNA virus belongs to the family Flaviviridae. It is mainly transmitted by mosquito bite specifically Aedes species and disease symptoms include fever, joint pain, muscle pain, rash, conjunctivitis, and headache. The reservoir of ZIKV is still not known. Protection at personal level by avoiding mosquito bite would help to reduce the incidence of the disease. Control of ZIKV infection by vaccination or antiviral drug either from modern, complementary and alternative medicines may be considered to be one of the most effective strategies in the long run. Large scale immunization of susceptible human population is highly required to prevent this deadly disease. Attempts should be made as soon as possible to develop effective vaccines or antiviral to prevent ZIKV infection. This article provides a current overview of the experimental therapeutics and treatment options based on modern, complementary and alternative medicines.

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Zika virus outbreak: an overview of the experimental therapeutics and treatment

VirusDis. (April-June Zika virus outbreak: an overview of the experimental therapeutics and treatment Shailendra K. Saxena 0 1 Asif Elahi 0 1 Srinivasulu Gadugu 0 1 Anil K. Prasad 0 1 0 CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) , Uppal Road, Hyderabad, TS 500007 , India 1 & Shailendra K. Saxena Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a new emerging threat around the globe which might be responsible for microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome in the infants. Recently, ZIKV outbreak has caused a public health crisis in Brazil after being linked to a sharp increase in birth defects. ZIKV is ssRNA virus belongs to the family Flaviviridae. It is mainly transmitted by mosquito bite specifically Aedes species and disease symptoms include fever, joint pain, muscle pain, rash, conjunctivitis, and headache. The reservoir of ZIKV is still not known. Protection at personal level by avoiding mosquito bite would help to reduce the incidence of the disease. Control of ZIKV infection by vaccination or antiviral drug either from modern, complementary and alternative medicines may be considered to be one of the most effective strategies in the long run. Large scale immunization of susceptible human population is highly required to prevent this deadly disease. Attempts should be made as soon as possible to develop effective vaccines or antiviral to prevent ZIKV infection. This article provides a current overview of the experimental therapeutics and treatment options based on modern, complementary and alternative medicines. Zika virus; Aedes species; Microcephaly; Infectious disease; Treatment; Risk assessment and prevention - Emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease is a major concern worldwide for keeping the people healthy and safe around the globe. Currently, Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a new threat worldwide, causing serious health issue everywhere and researchers believe that this might be the reason of microcephaly and autoimmune disorder in the infants. ZIKV is ssRNA Flavivirus categorized under Flaviviridae family. ZIKV infection is a mosquito transmitted viral infection, which was isolated in 1947, from the blood of febrile sentinel rhesus monkey in the Zika forest of Uganda [8]. For the first time ZIKV was isolated from Aedes africanus species of mosquito in 1948 from the Zika forest. Later on, a serological survey was conducted at the same time in the nearby regions of Uganda and the residents of those regions showed ZIKV specific antibodies in their blood [7, 8]. In the next two decades, a number of isolates of ZIKV were taken from Aedes africanus in Africa while Aedes aegypti in Malaysia which suggested that these Aedes species are the vectors of ZIKV epidemic [11, 13, 21]. During routine arbovirus surveillance studies, many ZIKV isolates were collected from humans in 1960 and 1970s from West and East Africa [10, 15, 19]. ZIKV was also detected in various parts of Africa and South East Asia in 1950 and 1960s [13]. These statistics confirmed the worldwide presence of ZIKV, spreading from Africa to Southeast Asia and America. Further, ZIKV infection was confirmed during an acute fever study in Indonesia in 1977 [16]. The clinical characteristics of ZIKV infection include rash, fever, headache, dizziness, malaise, anorexia and stomach ache [2, 10, 16, 19]. Another outbreak of ZIKV infection came into light in 2007 in Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia. Recently, first case of ZIKV infection was reported in Brazil in May 2015. Subsequently, outbreaks were reported throughout the country with high number of congenital malformations including 3500 cases of microcephaly [9]. After 9 months of arrival of ZIKV, microcephaly cases in newborns has been tremendously increased in South America. Additionally, the number of infected patients is increasing as the time moving on; hence, there is an urgent need to find the remedy for the eradication of ZIKV infection for maintaining the heath of the human beings around the globe. Overview of cellular process of infection In spite of the fact that the mechanism of infection of ZIKV is not studied in detail so far, although, it belongs to the Flaviviridae family which is well studied Flavivirus group. Therefore, the replication cycle may be similar like other Flaviviruses (Fig. 1). However, further research is essential to ascertain the same. Flaviviruses contain three structure proteins; the capsid protein C, pre-membrane protein prM, and the envelope protein E. RNA genome of the virus is encapsulated in multiple copies of the C protein to frame the viral nucleocapsid. Virus entry into the cell is mediated by the envelope proteins in three relatively discrete steps. The first step involves the attachment of the virus particle to the cell. Second step is the collisions between virus and target cells and third step is the attachment factors which promote infection by increasing the duration of contact between the virus and cell surface. Flaviviruses ar (...truncated)


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Shailendra K. Saxena, Asif Elahi, Srinivasulu Gadugu, Anil K. Prasad. Zika virus outbreak: an overview of the experimental therapeutics and treatment, VirusDisease, 2016, pp. 111-115, Volume 27, Issue 2, DOI: 10.1007/s13337-016-0307-y