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Zika Virus and Birth Defects

posted by martyb on Tuesday March 29 2016, @02:48AM   
from the no-laughing-matter dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Zika virus has been known for quite some time, but it gained notoriety recently due to its possible linkage to birth defects.

Science News has a summary report on Zika virus:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/special-report-heres-what-we-know-about-zika

A report on the studies of its possible linkage to microcephaly, a birth defect of babies with undersized and underdeveloped brains:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-zika-became-prime-suspect-microcephaly-mystery

In short, studies are continuing, evidence is mounting, but still not quite a confirmation.

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Original Submission

• Re: Monsanto and Pyriproxyfen (Score: 3, Informative) by gidds on Thursday March 31 2016, @10:30AM

  by gidds (589) on Thursday March 31 2016, @10:30AM (#325200)

  According to Snopes [snopes.com]:

  "Speculative reports connecting Monsanto and pyriproxifen as culprits had no basis in any accepted science or research and, at worst, served to exacerbate unfounded fears about larvicides during a mosquito-borne disease outbreak.  To date, medical research hasn't reached any firm conclusions about why a decades-old virus (Zika) potentially led to a sudden increase in microcephaly cases; however, the use of a similarly decades-old larvicide (pyriproxyfen) as the only cause was dismissed by experts across several related fields as improbable and without merit."

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  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
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