Zika virus lurks deep in the body, difficult to kill

International scientists warn Zika virus causes brain atrophy hidden deep in the body parts that the immune system cannot scan, so it is more dangerous and difficult to cope with.

According to Reuters, the researchers say Zika virus can survive in sperm until 62 days after a 68 patient was infected in 2014. Previously, there was enough evidence that Zika resides in brain tissue. embryos, placenta and amniotic fluid.

Earlier in the week, a group of Slovakian experts published a study showing that Zika virus is concentrated in a fetal brain and continues to replicate.

A four-month-old boy in Recife, Brazil suffered from brain atrophy - (Photo: Reuters).

"So far we only know that Zika virus exists in the blood at a very short time, from one week to 10 days. Now we know it exists in semen. After the patient is treated, we don't know where it can hide " - Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) admitted.

Dr. Fauci said that Zika's persistence in the patient's body is similar to the Ebola virus. In many cases, Ebola exists in the semen and eye fluid of the patient has been gone for months.

Some organs in the body like the brain, eyes, each other . are where the immune system can't touch. They are protected from antibodies to prevent the risk of the immune system attacking key tissues. But when a virus invades these agencies, it is very difficult to wipe them out.

"In these agencies, the virus will continue to exist, even reproduce," warns Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Zika virus only causes some mild symptoms, but is the cause of brain atrophy in newborns. On February 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Zika as a global emergency medical problem.