Discussion for article #245214
something to watch for is how the catholic and evangelical churches respond; because i would think that as these births increase, placing extraordinary demands on the families, local communities, government, access to abortions will become an option women want. esp as these births begin happening to middle/upper class women who have more power and influence than the impoverished women currently affected.
this is such a horrifying thing to see develop; and the photos of these children are heartbreaking. the women who are determined to provide for their kids are heroic and deserve all the resources their governments and international organizations can provide – and not just on a short term basis.
Hopefully this will be the wake up call for the anti-choice crowd, the need for safe, legal abortions.
South American governments are urging women to avoid becoming pregnant. What do they suggest women do – abstain? These are catholic majority countries, but I can’t see the how the church can justify doctrine against all forms of birth control during such a dire emergency. And are governments forcing women to carry to term even when exposure to the virus is confirmed? I don’t think they can screen for microcephaly in the first trimester – nor am I clear on what time in the pregnancy exposure to the virus produces microcephaly. I think later exposure may not have microcephalic effect, but I saw a clip on BBC in which a doctor was explaining that it causes other major medical problems not detectable through ultrasound – such as blindness and other malformations. This is really a catastrophic situation and spreading. Increasingly warmer climate may be a factor in causing the rise in mosquitos. Development of a vaccine should be a top priority. This clip really got me – the look on the mother’s face at the end is so devastating: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35406933
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After seeing that photograph, I can’t seem to stop crying. I’m done.
This is worse than Ebola, really. All that Ebola did was kill you. This doesn’t kill the fetus, only makes for a lifetime impaired person. There is some fear that the microcephaly is only a visible sign, and that those who do not show the microcephaly might have other, less visible, forms of impairment. Plus the infection itself is very mild, you might not even notice. This is a dreadful disease, and I hope that some pharma is very quickly working on a vaccine. Thank goodness it is a virus, and thus, in the most case, a vaccine can be developed.
Wonder how this is impacting the Summer Olympics?
i’ve seen articles that it will take at least a decade to develop a vaccine… although considering the devastating impact and the future that’s on the horizon for these families and countries, research will most certainly be a priority in research labs across the planet. i bet the nih is already being overwhelmed with proposals…
No, certainly not. Especially in cases like this, I would expect that something is in the works now, or in the planning stages. I would bet that something would be in a clinical trial by this summer. I am going to check with the CDC.
It’s gonna be a big big deal. Because no one who is pregnant or able to get pregnant will come. And when folks do come, they will get bit and go home and spread the virus to local mosquitos. Big deal.
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Most of that would be taken up by US regulatory approval, which would probably be expedited as long as it could be shown to be safe. Other countries that are more affected both have less restrictive approval and greater incentive to speed it up.
That said, I wouldn’t count on it so quickly. It’s a member of a group of viruses with many major pathogens. Among them, there are vaccines for yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis, but not West Nile virus or dengue. Dengue in particular has been extremely resistant; they’ve been working on a vaccine for decades and only just a few months ago had the first one approved, but it’s only 2/3 effective.
Hahahahaha…but seriously, you shouldn’t be joking about something like this.
I mean come on, we’re talking about the same church - in the same country - that said it would be an abomination to perform an abortion for a nine year old girl who was impregnated by her father (who had been raping her since she was six), even though carrying to term would very likely kill her. And ultimately excommunicated the doctors, and the girl’s mother for doing it (though not, of course, the father, because he confessed and was forgiven).
There was a nearly identical case in Paraguay where the girl (also nine) didn’t get an abortion and was forced to have the baby. At least she survived, because they let her have a C-section.
Also, the same church that for 35 years now has said that even condoms can’t be used to prevent AIDS, which has probably led to far more deaths than Zika ever will.
There’s very little they can’t justify, or that’s beneath them.
Thanks for the note. For Ebola, there was some notion of using vaccines derived from the blood of those who had the virus and who had already developed antibodies. I wonder if that is possible here.
Bigger wall. Stop all flights from affected countries. Drain wetlands and build casinos on the land. Reduce marginal tax rates. Require food stamp recipients to turn in 100 mosquito carcasses per day of funding.