Lebanese Ministry of Information
The Zika virus has been blamed for thousands of cases of the birth defect microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with severely shrunken heads and brain damage. But now a medical organization is challenging that connection, saying that the chemical larvicide Pyriproxyfen is instead to blame.
The Argentine organization Doctors in the Crop-Sprayed Towns says that most affected children live in areas in which the chemical was added in 2014 to local drinking water in an attempt to control mosquito populations. The larvicide is used to create malformations in mosquito larvae, in order to impair their development and reproductive abilities. Pyriproxyfen is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese strategic partner of Monsanto.
“Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added Pyriproxyfen to drinking water are not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on the Zika virus for this damage,” said the doctors.
While the Zika virus has been found in a tiny percentage of cases of women who gave birth to babies with microcephaly, it may be a co-existing condition. A survey of more than 3,000 pregnant women diagnosed with Zika found no evidence of microencephaly and birth defects have not been associated with previous outbreaks of Zika, which occur regularly. The doctors also noted that birth defects have not been found in other countries affected by Zika, such as Colombia, which has not seen a single case of microencephaly, despite a massive Zika outbreak.
Microcephaly is associated with severe intellectual impairment and motor skills problems. Geoff Woods, a clinical geneticist at the University of Cambridge who is studying affected babies, says damage impacts the brain stem and the cerebellum, which control many involuntary functions, such as swallowing, controlling body temperature and blood pressure. People born with microcephaly have typically shorter life spans. They will need specialized care for the rest of their lives.
On February 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus a global health emergency requiring international response, in the same category as the Ebola virus. WHO general director Margaret Chan called Zika an “extraordinary event” and said
he agency’s top concerns were protecting pregnant women from infection and controlling the mosquitoes that transmit the virus. The U.S. National Institutes of Health called the Zika virus a pandemic, and says the virus will ultimately reach every country in the world. The virus is thought to be transmitted mainly by the Aedes mosquito, but a handful of cases have shown that the virus can also be sexually transmitted.
The Zika virus is not usually severe or life-threatening, and in fact, only one in five people infected with Zika will ever experience symptoms, says the CDC. Its symptoms are similar to the flu, including fever, rash, conjunctivitis and joint pain. In rare cases, the virus has been associated with Guillian-Barré syndrome.
Second nexus
