Zika virus can live in eyes, says study

Zika virus can live in eyes, says study
The findings confirm that Zika is able to travel to the eye.

The findings confirm that Zika is able to travel to the eye. However, it is not yet known whether the virus typically makes that trip by crossing the blood-retina barrier that separates the eye from the bloodstream,or some other route.

(Read: Is India at risk of Zika? What are its symptoms? How to prevent it and more…)

The findings confirm that Zika is able to travel to the eye. However, it is not yet known whether the virus typically makes that trip by crossing the blood-retina barrier that separates the eye from the bloodstream, travelling along the optic nerve that connects the brain and the eye, or some other route, the researchers stated. Further, the infection in the eyes also raises the possibility that people could acquire Zika infection through contact with tears from infected people. The tears of the infected mice showed Zika’s RNA — the genetic material from the virus. But, it did not show any traces of the infectious virus, when tested 28 days after infection, the authors said. “Even though we didn’t find live virus in mouse tears, that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be infectious in humans,” added Jonathan J. Miner, doctoral student at the Washington University. “There could be a window of time when tears are highly infectious and people are coming in contact with it and able to spread it,” Miner noted.

(Read: 8 essential tips to prevent Zika)

The eye is an immune privileged site, meaning the immune system is less active there, to avoid accidentally damaging sensitive tissues responsible for vision in the process of fighting infection. Consequently, infections sometimes persist in the eye after they have been cleared from the rest of the body, the study said. The researchers now are planning complementary studies in human patients infected with the virus. “We are planning studies in people to find out whether infectious virus persists in the cornea or other compartments of the eye, because that would have implications for corneal transplantation,” explained Rajendra S. Apte, Professor at the Washington University. Human tears potentially could be tested for viral RNA or antibodies, a less painful way to diagnose recent Zika infection than drawing blood and the mouse eye could be used to test anti-Zika drugs, the researchers concluded, in the paper published in the journal Cell Reports.

(Read: Zika virus may spread in India rapidly. Here’s how you can prevent it)

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