The Zika virus is one of the most insidious pathogens that can be transmitted by the sting of the mosquitoes. Known for the ability to cause fetal malformations. And for the speed with which it spreads in a new environment when its natural carrier is present, the mosquito of the genre Aedes Aegypti (fortunately for now absent in our country). A new study published on Communications Biologyand coordinated by researchers of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, today reveals one of the mechanisms behind this high epidemic potential: Zika would in fact be able to modify the skin of the people who infected, making chemicals producing mosquitoes, and increase The chances of new infections.
Zika’s journey
The Zika virus was discovered for the first time in Uganda in 1947, and initially spread slowly around the globe. In the middle of the last century he had reached Southeast Asia, for the beginning of the 21st century he had managed to cross the Pacific, landing in South America. From there, suddenly, he started running, spreading with splashing on the continent. Currently there is in more than 90 nations, and with such a vast basin of people he started showing his true face.
For decades, in fact, it had not been considered as a concrete threat, because in the vast majority of patients the infection is asymptomatic or slight. With the arrival in populous countries such as Brazil, however, it was discovered that the infection can expose to extremely serious consequences, especially when it affects women during the first trimester of pregnancy, exposing the fetus to the risk of microcephaly, an anomalous development of the head and brain that produces irreversible symptoms. For this reason, Zika has become a special surveillance all over the world, and efforts have multiplied to understand the mechanisms of its diffusion.
The study
The new research investigated what happens in the skin of patients during a zika virus infection. By showing that the pathogen is able to modify the gene expression at the level of the fibroblasts, the cells responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of the skin. The result of these changes is an altered production of molecules known as volatile organic compounds (VOC), which following the infection become more attractive to the mosquitoes of the genre Aedestransforming the patient into a sort of magnet for mosquito bites, and therefore in a perfect source of new infections (the virus needs mosquitoes to be transported from one guest to another).
By testing the effects of the virus with mosquitoes in flesh and blood, the authors of the study have shown that the presence of the volatile organic compounds produced following the infection increases by 60 percent the percentage of females of Aedes Aegypti who show persistence behaviors around a blood sample. The voc produced by the infection would also make the identification of the prey easier, given that in the experiments between 10 and 27 percent of the mosquitoes it reached the samples in which the compounds were present within 10 seconds, against the 3 percent it identified those not contaminated by the virus.
“Our results show that the Zika virus is not passively transmitted, but actively manipulate human biology to ensure its own survival,” explains Noushin Emam, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. “With the cases of continuous zika and the Aedes mosquitoes that expand their range, understanding the mechanisms that provide the virus an advantage in the transmission could help us develop new strategies to combat these arbovirus. For example, develop genetic interventions that interrupt i Signals transmitted by the skin that seem to attract mosquitoes “.
Malaria can also return to Italy, that’s where the mosquitoes were hoping extinct