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posted by on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the Global-Sterilization dept.

This from Science Advances dated 22 Feb, but just now floating to the top:
From the abstract (abridged - bold is mine)

Zika virus ... found to cause fetal infection and neonatal abnormalities, including microcephaly and neurological dysfunction. ZIKV persists in the semen months after the acute viremic phase in humans.

[...] ZIKV replication persists within the testes even after clearance from the blood, with interstitial, testosterone-producing Leydig cells supporting virus replication. We found high levels of viral RNA and antigen within the epididymal lumen, where sperm is stored, and within surrounding epithelial cells.

Unexpectedly, at 21 days post-infection, the testes of the ZIKV-infected mice were significantly smaller compared to those of mock-infected mice, indicating progressive testicular atrophy. ZIKV infection caused a reduction in serum testosterone, suggesting that male fertility can be affected. Our findings have important implications for nonvector-borne vertical transmission, as well as long-term potential reproductive deficiencies, in ZIKV-infected males.

OMG.

Full paper: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/2/e1602899.full
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602899


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  • (Score: -1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:38PM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:38PM (#478175)

    That's seriously your response? Really? No more editorial, just found it important to let other men know that it has something to do with male sexuality?
    So, let me get this straight. NOW you care because it affects what men love to call their so-called "manhood" (which is a disgusting notion) but when it was causing microcephaly inside of women's wombs you could have cared less.
    Next time just preface your article with saying you're a sexist, and I won't have to read this crap nor admonish you for the double standard. Okay?

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:47PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:47PM (#478180)

    Could NOT have cared less. That is what you meant to say.

    Your inability to appreciate what is actually being said sheds some light on your useless reaction.

    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:51PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @07:51PM (#478182)

      Grammar nazis rule!!!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:02PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:02PM (#478185)

    NOW you care because it affects what men love to call their so-called "manhood"

    You mean the virus which was a big scare and everyone knows about because it causes microcephaly? What exactly gives you the impression that men (and specifically the editor) didn't care about it until now? You seem upset that it mentions men in any way, and imply that we should simply disregard the fact that the effects on men could be even worse than we thought.

    Ironically you types are often more sexist than the people you criticize. How 'bout that Freudian projection eh?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:23PM (5 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:23PM (#478190)

      Is this REALLY a natural variant of disease from nature, or is this an modern designer HIV intended to take out some percentage of the lowest population through sterility that HIV obviously didn't manage to do?

      The funny thing about diseases is random evolution and intelligent design seem to coincide with periods of activity that make them suspect.

      • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:47PM (4 children)

        by dyingtolive (952) on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:47PM (#478201)

        I don't feel like it originated in an area that would be the obvious selection for a designer virus (where such a thing to be developed by an intelligent and agenda driven actor).

        I don't buy into the conspiracy theories about stuff like that, at least in this case, because it's too close to the US and already make it here in limited ways. If it was state sponsored, at least by the US, then it was hella sloppy, and the life of someone who worked on the project probably got ruined for it.

        --
        Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @10:28PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @10:28PM (#478230)

          They may not even know that they are getting that vaccine, too.

        • (Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @11:42PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @11:42PM (#478251)

          I don't buy into the conspiracy theories about stuff like that

          I don't buy into those conspiracies either, because I am NOT A CRAZY PERSON.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 13 2017, @02:00AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 13 2017, @02:00AM (#478289)

            Conspiracies are nutty stuff, huh? Good thing there's level headed people like to me to stand up and loudly declare that the US government couldn't and wouldn't possibly be hiding a world-wide surveillance program for which tools for such have been stolen by various groups over the years?

            Hah. Those conspiracy nutters. Probably genuinely think that we deliberately let pearl harbor happen, and that Iraq was about oil interests and not WMDs and freedoms and I bet they also don't trust whatever other bullshit our news narrative lords on TV shovel into our mouths.. Utter loons. Good thing is you and I know the truth, and it's whatever shit happens to be sitting right in front of our faces, ready to be inspected (but god forbid you look too deep, right?) at face value.

        • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday March 13 2017, @03:14PM

          by Immerman (3985) on Monday March 13 2017, @03:14PM (#478428)

          I thought it had originated in Africa, where it doesn't actually seem to cause any problems since everyone gets their first immunity-forming exposure to is as per-pubescent children. Then became an issue when it migrated to South America where nobody had immunity.

          Or did I miss an update?

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday March 12 2017, @11:29PM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 12 2017, @11:29PM (#478247) Journal

    So, let me get this straight. NOW you care because it affects what men love to call their so-called "manhood" (which is a disgusting notion).

    And you don't see this as significant. Let me try to reveal it to you:

    1. before knowing that: "Just abstain from procreational sex for 6 months and you and your procreational partner are safe for the rest of your life"
    2. after knowing that: "Oops. If you don't do something to kill the virus as early as possible, say good-bye to procreation"

    Getting this warning out is useful no matter the sex of the partner affected.
    Since Zikka affects males post-infection, how's the editorial suppose to sound: tell the world "Doh, men are affected! Move along, nothing to see there!".

    ... but when it was causing microcephaly inside of women's wombs you could have cared less.

    I challenge you to show editorializing showing "you could not care less" when it was about microcephaly.
    Until you do so, I would consider this an attempt of trolling.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Monday March 13 2017, @10:56AM

      by Magic Oddball (3847) on Monday March 13 2017, @10:56AM (#478357) Journal

      That's not what the study showed — which was just that there might be *some* reduction in male fertility, not that Zika resulted in sterility. Considering people have been getting the Zika virus since the early 1950s and isolated epidemics began a decade ago, any *significant* impact on men's fertility would've already been uncovered.

      The microcephaly threat couldn't be handled just by abstaining for 6 months for two reasons: a lot of people have very mild or no symptoms (so they have no idea they're infected), and a hell of a lot of the mothers were infected by mosquitos after they became pregnant. The only way to really avoid it is to not have reproductive sex until there's a vaccine or it's otherwise eradicated.

      I got the wrong impression from the lone "OMG" as well, and I not only don't lean towards the "you don't care about ___" angle, I usually find it annoyingly whiny. I think my interpretation is because the known reality about Zika's bad enough that not referencing it in some way (e.g. a comment like "as if Zika wasn't bad enough already") and reacting with just "OMG" kind of implies the earlier events hadn't really registered as significant. (Poorly-worded, but hopefully you get my meaning.) I basically got a mental image of a guy in a movie who's busy minding his own business, then drops what he's doing with a look of astonished horror and/or wide-eyed "holy shit" when something finally gets his attention.

  • (Score: 2) by DutchUncle on Wednesday March 15 2017, @05:47PM

    by DutchUncle (5370) on Wednesday March 15 2017, @05:47PM (#479499)

    I took it as "OMG it's not just the immediate effects that we knew about, it's long term effects, and it's just like every SF movie or TV show where the aliens find a cheap way to kill off all of the humans (even if it takes a few years)." You know the thing we're thinking about doing to the mosquito population? Someone is using the mosquitoes to do it to US.