Microcephaly News and Research

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Measuring head circumference (also known as occipito-frontal circumference) is a significant part of the proper evaluation of a child’s growth and development, as it represents a direct indication of head growth. Therefore deviations from normal head growth may reveal certain congenital or acquired problem.

Long-standing immunosuppressive drug reduces Zika birth defects in mice

In experiments with pregnant mice infected with the Zika virus, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report they have successfully used a long-standing immunosuppressive drug to diminish the rate of fetal deaths and birth defects in the mice's offspring.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 7 May 2019

Dengue mosquito poses greatest danger of spreading Zika virus in Australia

Researchers at QUT and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have found that the dengue fever mosquito common to north and central Queensland poses the greatest danger of spreading the Zika virus in Australia.

23 Apr 2019

New class of molecules could someday become basis for Zika-specific therapeutic

The Zika virus is widely known for causing microcephaly and other brain defects in the fetuses of pregnant, infected women.

4 Apr 2019

Researchers quantify link between Zika infection and microcephaly in Brazil

Women infected with Zika virus early in pregnancy are almost 17 times more likely to have a child with microcephaly, according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Oliver Brady of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues.

6 Mar 2019

Scientists identify cause of devastating pediatric brain disorder

An international effort led by physician-scientists at Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, in collaboration with a team at the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre, has identified the cause of a devastating pediatric brain disorder paving the way for the first step in developing potential therapies for this rare neurodegenerative condition.

25 Feb 2019

Prior dengue virus infection increases Zika virus-induced damage during pregnancy

Women who have previously been infected with dengue virus may be at risk for increased damage to their fetuses and placentas if they should later become infected with the Zika virus, researchers from the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai report.

11 Feb 2019

Largest description of ST3GAL5 deficiency combined using data from 104 individuals

Researchers have combined the largest description of ST3GAL5 deficiency using detailed natural history data from 104 individuals of Amish ancestry born between 1986 and 2017 with a definite or probable diagnosis of ST3GAL5 deficiency.

6 Feb 2019

Scientists are working to develop a new way to detect Zika virus

A collaboration of scientists including Professor Jean Patterson, Ph.D., of Texas Biomedical Research Institute, is working on a new way to detect Zika virus that will help guide clinicians in their treatment of patients with the disease.

28 Jan 2019

DZIF scientists reveal problems with available diagnostics for Zika and chikungunya virus

Millions of people have contracted Zika and chikungunya virus infections since the outbreaks that have been striking Latin America since 2013. Particularly Zika-related malformations in newborns warrant reliable diagnostics.

18 Jan 2019

Cellular protein that interacts with viruses appears to enable infection process of Zika virus

A cellular protein that interacts with invading viruses appears to help enable the infection process of the Zika virus, according to an international team of researchers who suggest this protein could be a key target in developing new therapies to prevent or treat Zika virus infection.

17 Jan 2019

KU Leuven scientists develop new vaccine against Zika virus

Scientists at the KU Leuven Rega Institute in Belgium have developed a new vaccine against the Zika virus. This vaccine should prevent the virus from causing microcephaly and other serious conditions in unborn babies.

19 Dec 2018

Study finds drug targets for Ebola, Dengue, and Zika viruses

No drugs are currently available to treat Ebola, Dengue, or Zika viruses, which infect millions of people every year and result in severe illness, birth defects, and even death. New research from the Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco may finally change that. Scientists identified key ways the three viruses hijack the body's cells, and they found at least one potential drug that can disrupt this process in human cells.

13 Dec 2018

New EU-funded project provides insight into how the brain develops

The human brain is comprised of billions of different types of cells. These cells are then organized into sophisticated networks, each of which determines a specific function of the brain. But how do the neurons, or nerve cells that form these networks, find the right network? And what happens when they don’t?

6 Dec 2018

Researchers generate six antibodies to diagnose and treat Zika virus

Researchers have generated six Zika virus antibodies that could be used to test for and possibly treat a mosquito-borne disease that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide.

29 Nov 2018

Scientists discover biomarkers for Zika-related birth defects

Scientists at USC have discovered biomarkers for fetal birth defects in the blood of pregnant women infected with Zika.

2 Nov 2018

Scientists engineer antiviral peptide that exploits Achilles' heel of Zika virus

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore have engineered an antiviral peptide that exploits the Zika virus at its Achilles' heel - the viral membrane - hence stopping the virus from causing severe infections.

24 Oct 2018

UNC researchers receive NIH award to study maternal-fetal transmission of Zika virus

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and collaborators in Nicaragua have been given a five-year, $2.7 million R01 award from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to better understand the epidemiology of Zika virus in pregnancy and the impact the virus has on infant neurodevelopment.

26 Sep 2018

Vanteres announces new evidence demonstrating role of LPC-DHA in fetal brain development

Vanteres, an innovative biotech company leveraging its biomedical research expertise to develop actively transported lysophospholipids, announces new evidence that demonstrates the critical role of LPC-DHA in normal fetal and infant brain development.

24 Sep 2018

Zika virus could become a weapon against brain cancer

Zika virus infection is a dreaded one that can lead to severe brain damage in the unborn babies of mothers who get it.

20 Sep 2018

Researchers harness Zika virus vaccine under development to target glioblastoma

Researchers at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have successfully harnessed a Zika virus vaccine under development to target and kill the brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

19 Sep 2018