Zika virus infections may cause eye diseases to unborn babies, says study

New York: Scientists have found that zika virus infections may cause lasting eye diseases which could pose more danger to unborn babies than previously thought.

A study was conducted on rhesus monkeys which showed that although the foetus affected with the deadly virus did not show its typical symptoms such as shrunken heads or microcephaly, unusual inflammation in the foetal eyes, in the retinas and optic nerves, in pregnancies infected were observed.

Kathleen Antony, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said,"Our eyes are basically part of our central nervous system. The optic nerve grows right out from the foetal brain during pregnancy."

She added,"It makes some sense to see this damage in the monkeys and in human pregnancy -- problems such as chorioretinal atrophy or microphthalmia in which the whole eye or parts of the eye just don't grow to the expected size."

For the study, the team infected four pregnant rhesus macaque monkeys with a Zika virus dose similar to what would be transferred by a mosquito bite.

The findings revealed that the virus was present in each monkey's foetus.

Golos said,"That is a very high level -- 100 per cent exposure -- of the virus to the foetus along with inflammation and tissue injury in an animal model that mirrors the infection in human pregnancies quite closely."

Moreover, three of the foetuses involved had small heads, but not quite so small as children born with microcephaly.

The researchers said studying Zika infection in monkeys may help follow the progress of the mosquito-transmitted infection and associated health problems in humans.

Golos noted,"The results we're seeing in monkey pregnancies make us think that, as they grow, more human babies might develop Zika-related disease pathology than is currently appreciated."

The finding was published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

(With IANS inputs)