The Zika Crisis

[kscarbel2]

Marco Rubio: women with Zika should not be allowed abortions

The Guardian  /  August 7, 2016

Florida senator Marco Rubio has said women infected with the Zika virus should not be allowed to have abortions, even if their babies have microcephaly, the severe developmental disorder than can result from infection with the disease.

“If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life,” Rubio said.

Rubio, who has championed Zika funding bills in the Senate, also blamed Democrats for the failure to pass such federal aid.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures, Florida is the state second-worst affected by Zika, after New York, but is the only state to have infections caused by local mosquitoes.

Most Zika cases in the US have been found in people who travelled to affected countries

Rubio ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination and only recently decided to run for re-election rather than give up public life. During the presidential campaign, he said he was opposed to abortion in all instances, including in cases of rape or incest.

“I understand a lot of people disagree with my view – but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws,” he said. “And when you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one. But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life.”

CDC Director Tom Frieden has estimated that the lifetime cost of caring for a child born with microcephaly could reach $10 million.

Florida Governor Rick Scott was asked about criticism he has received over a 40% cut to the state’s mosquito control budget in 2011.

“What we’ve done is allocate the dollars better,” he said. “We reduced some funding originally but we dramatically increased the funding over the last five, six years I’ve been in office. We have a very good mosquito board. I’ve allocated $26.2 million of state funding.”

As of Friday [despite the ramifications of Zika curtailing healthy normal reproduction in the United States], Florida officials had released only $1.9 million of those funds.

 

[grayhair]

"he said he was opposed to abortion in all instances, including in cases of rape or incest."    Idiot.  Guaranteed he'd say different if it was his family member.  In those awful circumstances it should be the mother's discretion/choice.  IMO.

[Dirtymilkman]

What a moron. People that make the laws can be so ignorant. Nobody knows what that woman is feeling with a incest, rape or mentally ill baby in them. Why bring a person in this world to suffer? I'm not a fan of abortion but there are cases you need it. 

[david wild]

Just proves Rubio is a jerk off.

[kscarbel2]

Zika virus could be linked with 'whole spectrum' of disorders

The Guardian  /  August 9, 2016

Study linking virus with severe joint deformities leads experts to say that Zika could be associated with range of problems

A study by scientists in Brazil that suggests a possible link between the Zika virus and rare, but severe, joint deformities in babies has led experts to warn that the virus could be linked to a host of other problems in babies, some of which might only become apparent as they get older.

Experts say the study opens up the possibility that microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads, could just be one facet of a congenital Zika virus syndrome.

The Zika virus is primarily spread by mosquitoes and is currently present in more than 50 countries and territories worldwide, including many in Latin America.

While the implications of Zika virus infection for unborn babies have yet to be fully unravelled, the virus has already been declared to be a cause of the birth defect microcephaly. But now experts say the virus appears to be linked a severe joint condition seen at birth.

Known as arthrogryposis, the condition is characterised by problems with joint movement and muscle weakness, with joints often fixed in abnormal, curved positions.

The condition is thought to have a number of possible causes, including problems with the movement of the foetus in the womb, which can itself have several origins. But, if the link with Zika is confirmed, it will be the first time the condition has been associated with an infection in the foetus.

“I think this is part of the move from describing microcephaly, which is just really a component of the congenital Zika syndrome, to starting to describe the whole spectrum of the Zika syndrome,” said Laura Rodrigues, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he was not surprised by the findings of the new study and believes many more Zika-linked conditions will be discovered.

“As opposed to linking Zika just to microcephaly there is a whole spectrum which they are now referring to as the [congenital] Zika syndrome, within which is included microcephaly but it is not limited to microcephaly,” he said.

“This [research] is just a very good example of the broadening spectrum of the abnormalities that can occur in children,” he added.

“I can predict to you now that it is likely that the children who look reasonably normal, don’t have any gross formation defects, might later on have issues that relate to subtle things like visual defects, or hearing defects, or intellectual landmarks children get as they develop. So I think the syndrome is going to continue to broaden.”

The research, published in the BMJ, followed up on two previous reports that hinted at a link between Zika and arthrogryposis, and involved the study of seven children born during the autumn of 2015, all of whom had the joint condition and displayed a similar pattern of limb abnormalities.

Six of the children had been diagnosed with microcephaly, while all showed brain imaging results consistent with congenital Zika infection, including abnormal brain development, reduced brain volume and a build-up of calcium in certain regions of the brain. Four of the children also showed spinal cord thinning, while some of the children also showed eye or ear abnormalities. For all of the children, other causes of the microcephaly such as HIV, syphilis and rubella were ruled out by tests, suggesting that the likely cause was the Zika virus.

“The pattern of [the] brain images are typical of congenital infections and we excluded other causes of congenital infections,” said Vanessa van der Linden, lead author of the research from the hospital Barão de Lucena in Recife, Brazil. Three of the children have so far been found to have antibodies for the Zika virus, two at the time of writing the study and one since, she adds.

The clustering of the cases in space and time is also suggestive says Rodrigues. “Arthrogryposis is extremely rare, and suddenly there are seven cases and all happened during the [Zika] epidemic,” she said. “I think that it is reasonable to assume that it is part of the [Zika] syndrome.”

When the scientists carried out ultrasound imaging on the children they found that all seven showed no abnormalities in the tissue, cartilage, joint fluid and structures around the joints. That, the authors say, suggests that the arthrogryposis was caused not by a disorder of the tissues, but rather a problem with the nervous system that prevented the foetus from moving around normally in the womb – a mechanism by which foetuses develop their joints and tissues correctly.

“It is damaged nerves that has lead to this rather than muscle damage or joint damage so it links to brain and nervous infection by Zika during pregnancy,” said Jimmy Whitworth, professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

While Whitworth says the evidence for a link between the Zika virus and arthrogryposis is not yet conclusive, he believes that the results of the new study are “compelling”. “It needs to be added to things that doctors think about when they see arthrogryposis – could this be congenital Zika infection that has occurred?” he said.

[Keith Pommerening]

Been reading these comments about killing babies that might have a defect, not wanted at this time, cost society a fortune, wrong father...   Where did we get the power and permission to decide who lives and dies?   Once a person makes this choice and initiates the action; what will life be like knowing you made this happen with someone else's life.  What is good for the least of us should be good for all of us.  Those who are comfortable with this choice should go to hospitals and nursing homes.  Just think of all the suffering, pain, and misery you would relieve some one of having to endure, let alone all the money we could save for...

Like this choice thing and comfortable with it, live it.  When you get a life ending illness, have an accident and live with a compromised life style, start getting senile, get needy and need help with every day functions...  Make a choice with your own life, man-up.  Same decision to be made, just a little more personal. I don't want or believe I have the power and permission to make this choice for myself, for you, or some fetus.

The democrates have no trouble with this on your behalf.  Like Obummer says, "Just give them a pill."

Thanks,  Keith

[kscarbel2]

Keith, if I'm understanding your thought correctly, I think the idea is that one wouldn't want to "knowingly" bring a child into the world inflicted with the Zika virus (microcephaly), as it would have extremely serious irreparable issues. The brain is prohibited from developing properly, causing a wide range of serious issues. The child would have no quality of life.

As the CDC says, Microcephaly is a lifelong condition. There is no known cure or treatment.

 

Keith, I'm confident that I value human life as much as you. Innocent children are perhaps the biggest victims of the cultural decay and declining standards of behavior in our country.......... http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/43501-the-face-of-america-in-year-2016/?page=2http:

 

Zika Virus Information:

//www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/microcephaly.html

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/microcephaly/basics/definition/con-20034823

.

 

 

[kscarbel2]

Laboratory-confirmed Zika virus disease cases reported by U.S. state or territory (as of August 3, 2016)..........http://www.cdc.gov/zika/intheus/maps-zika-us.html

Zika - What you need to know..........http://www.cdc.gov/zika/symptoms/index.html

.

[david wild]

Before all this being correct crap, there were a lot of babies that did not make it out of the delivery room, we just did not talk about it, doctors knew some babies should not make it and accidents happen and the baby does not live, that was life and it happened and you all knew it but did not speak of it, now we talk about,  but we don't have the guts to make the choice, a choice that doctors made every day. it is wonderful to live in a world where every thing is perfect, but we don't, some babies are not meant to live, we breed every thing on earth to be better except humans, we breed them to be worse with each generation. I don't like abortion, but I am not stopping someone from making the choice, your religion should be your choice and not shoved on to other people, another words your beliefs are yours and not mine and I should not have to live under your beliefs, abortion is only wrong because of your beliefs, we kill everything else and it does not bother anyone, there are no cattle slaughter houses in India, ????? what makes you so right and everyone else wrong, sounds like a god complex.     

[grayhair]

quoted from above:  

"As opposed to linking Zika just to microcephaly there is a whole spectrum which they are now referring to as the [congenital] Zika syndrome, within which is included microcephaly but it is not limited to microcephaly,” he said. “This [research] is just a very good example of the broadening spectrum of the abnormalities that can occur in children,” he added.  

I say, this friggin Zika is a disaster.  Besides terrible limb defects, likely neurological problems that will last a lifetime, possible blindness, possible hearing problems or totally deaf, learning disability, or all of the above... Tell me you can look a lovely young mother in the eye and tell her (or as idiot Rubio insists) that she must go ahead with delivery of an known afflicted baby.  Terminating that pregnancy should be the mothers choice.  If she wants to go ahead and deliver the baby, understanding the risk, then so be it.  On the other hand, what crazy, merciless son of a bitch would require her to go ahead with it against her will? 

Edited August 11, 2016 by grayhair

[kscarbel2]

US declares state of emergency in Puerto Rico over Zika epidemic

Associated Press  /  August 13, 2016

The US government on Friday declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico as a result of a Zika epidemic.

The declaration allows the US Department of Health and Human Services to award grants, access emergency funds and temporarily appoint personnel where needed, among other things.

“This administration is committed to meeting the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico with the necessary urgency,” says Secretary Sylvia Burwell. Burwell traveled to the US territory in late April to evaluate its response to the outbreak.

The announcement came hours after Puerto Rico reported 1,914 new cases in the past week, for a total of 10,690 since the first one was reported in December.

The mosquito-borne virus has infected 1,035 pregnant women, which is a concern to authorities because Zika has been tied to a severe birth defect known as microcephaly.

Puerto Rico reported the first case of microcephaly acquired on US soil in May, involving a dead fetus that a woman turned over to health authorities. No microcephaly cases have been reported since then, but federal officials say it’s only a matter of time.

Governor Alejandro García Padilla said he had asked federal officials to declare a public health emergency.

García recently authorized the use of Bti, an organic larvicide, to fight the spread of Zika after rejecting aerial spraying with the insecticide naled as proposed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Puerto Rico Health Secretary Ana Rius said 90 people have been hospitalized because of Zika.

Officials say 30 people have been diagnosed with a temporary paralysis condition known as Guillain-Barre that has been linked to Zika.

Health authorities believe the number of Zika cases is much higher because eight of 10 people show no symptoms and many don’t go to the doctor.

The emergency was declared one day after the US surgeon general visited Puerto Rico and said he expected 25% of Puerto Rico’s nearly 3.5 million people will be infected with Zika by year’s end.

 

[RowdyRebel]

On August 10, 2016 at 7:20 AM, david wild said:

Before all this being correct crap, there were a lot of babies that did not make it out of the delivery room, we just did not talk about it, doctors knew some babies should not make it and accidents happen and the baby does not live, that was life and it happened and you all knew it but did not speak of it, now we talk about,  but we don't have the guts to make the choice, a choice that doctors made every day. it is wonderful to live in a world where every thing is perfect, but we don't, some babies are not meant to live, we breed every thing on earth to be better except humans, we breed them to be worse with each generation. I don't like abortion, but I am not stopping someone from making the choice, your religion should be your choice and not shoved on to other people, another words your beliefs are yours and not mine and I should not have to live under your beliefs, abortion is only wrong because of your beliefs, we kill everything else and it does not bother anyone, there are no cattle slaughter houses in India, ????? what makes you so right and everyone else wrong, sounds like a god complex.     

Religion aside, Governments are instituted among men to secure certain unalienable rights, among them LIFE, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The government should NOT be in the business of funding, promoting, or in any other way supporting the killing of the most innocent among us. A "hands off" approach, neither endorsing nor prohibiting, would be the most I'd expect the government to do, but if they were to choose sides, they should do as Rubio claims to do and "err on the side of life"...an unalienable right which government was instituted among men in order to protect. Funding for abortions should NEVER under ANY circumstance come from government. If a person wants an abortion and has no personal moral compass prohibiting such a thing, they should pay for the procedure themself. If a "charitable organization" wanted to chip in, so be it, but by doing so they should lose any claim they might otherwise try to make on taxpayer funds. ALL money is fungible, so there is no such thing as "no taxpayer money paid for THAT" if ANY taxpayer money was in their budget.

[david wild]

I don't want taxpayers to pay for abortions either, but I also don't want to pay for some mistake to sit in a institution while I pay that bill too.  Too many people think there problem should be my (taxpayer) problem also, like old women having kids, a lot of them have birth defects, have babies when you are young and your baby maker is working good not when it's old.  you make it, you pay for it.  

[Keith Pommerening]

I think there is an easy fix for this.  If some one has a baby and is unable to care for it by themselves, do the "humanitarian" thing and give some help.  If she has another and is unable to care for it herself, well now it is a lifestyle decision and not an accident.  Give her some assistance when she gets her tubes tied.  If the procedure is against her religion, then her religion should pay the assistance.  At least this will limit the expense.  Thanks,  Keith

[kscarbel2]

Looking back into history, viruses have devastated global regions and entire species.

When a species can no longer successfully procreate..........

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zika causes a unique syndrome of devastating birth defects

The Washington Post  /  November 3, 2016

The birth defects caused by Zika have been described in heartbreaking detail as the virus has spread to more than 45 countries, infecting hundreds of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of pregnant women. Now researchers have concluded that a Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to a distinct pattern of birth defects that they are officially calling congenital Zika syndrome.

In a report released Thursday in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe five types of birth defects that are either unique to Zika or occur rarely with other infections during pregnancy:

Severe microcephaly (abnormally small head size) with partly collapsed skull.

Decreased brain tissue with a specific pattern of calcium deposits indicating brain damage.

Damage to the back of the eye with a specific pattern of scarring and increased pigment.

Joints with limited range of motion, such as clubfoot.

Too much muscle tone, restricting movement soon after birth.

Researchers at the CDC, along with colleagues elsewhere in the United States and Brazil, analyzed publicly available reports about defects among infants and fetuses whose mothers had either confirmed or presumed infection with Zika virus during pregnancy. Most of the clinical descriptions of Zika-affected infants are from Brazil, the heart of the epidemic.

The most common timing of infection that led to birth defects is late first and early second trimester, although third-trimester infections were also reported among infants with birth defects.

The five features described in the report are an initial list of clinical findings. It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, that the full spectrum of health problems caused by a Zika infection won’t be known for months and even years after birth.

At a conference in September on Zika’s effect on children, sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, researchers described an array of problems associated with Zika exposure beyond microcephaly, mostly stemming from the virus’s harm to the nervous system.

Children born to Zika-infected mothers will need to be regularly monitored because some problems don't show up until months later, said Catherine Spong, an obstetrician-gynecologist and the institute’s acting director.

“Although the severe cases are teaching us a lot, the impact is likely much more broad, and these impacts, although less striking, may be much more widespread and may need more monitoring and interventions,” she said.

Researchers say the purpose of the latest report is to describe what is known about the congenital syndrome. The description is intended to help health-care providers “better recognize the pattern of birth defects associated with congenital Zika virus infection,” said Cynthia Moore, a clinical geneticist and birth-defects expert for the CDC and lead author of the report.

Doing that will help providers evaluate and coordinate care for affected babies and their families, she said.

At least 1,005 pregnant women have Zika infections in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; 25 U.S. infants have been born with Zika-related birth defects and an additional five pregnancies are known to have resulted in miscarriage, stillbirths or terminations with evidence of birth defects.

Video - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/11/03/congenital-zika-syndrome-is-the-new-name-for-a-group-of-devastating-birth-defects/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_zika-1150a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

 

 

[kscarbel2]

The media is a curious beast. Once, Zika was all over the front pages and set to conquer the world, and then suddenly you never hear any more about it. Perhaps, the powers that be couldn't stop it and thus want the topic buried.