Luiz Philipe, who was born with microcephaly, sleeps in his house in Marica, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on March 9, 2016. Brazil will adopt the World Health Organization (WHO) standards from the next week to determine if a baby has microcephaly, the Brazilian Health Ministry said on Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua] WASHINGTON -- Chinese researchers said Thursday they might have solved the mystery of why the Zika virus causes microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. In a study published in the US journal Science, a team led by Cheng-Feng Qin of the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology reported that one single genetic change, likely acquired in 2013, gave the mosquito-borne virus the ability to cause severe fetal microcephaly. Our findings offer a reasonable explanation for the unexpected causal link of Zika to microcephaly, and will help understand how Zika evolved from an innocuous mosquito-borne virus into a congenital pathogen with global impact, Qin said. Zika was first identified in 1947 in Uganda, and until its recent emergence in the Americas, was a little known one that sporadically causes mild infections. Then, it rapidly swept through South and Central America in 2015, and due to its link to congenital brain abnormalities, especially microcephaly during pregnancy, the World Health Organization declared in early 2016 the current epidemics a public health emergency of international concern. However, scientists remain unable to determine why the virus evolved into a pathogen triggering severe neurological syndromes. By comparing contemporary Zika virus strains from the 2015 and 2016 South American epidemics with an ancestral Cambodian virus that was circulating in 2010, Qin and colleagues found one critical mutation that conferred the ability to cause microcephaly in mouse models of fetal infection. That one change, S139N, which replaced a serine amino acid with an asparagine at the 139th position of a Zika protein called prM, also made the virus more lethal to human neuron precursor cells in culture compared with the ancestral form. Zika accumulated numerous changes throughout its genome between 2010 and 2016, of which S139N caused substantially more severe microcephaly and embryonic lethality in mouse models. Evolutionary analyses revealed that the S139N change likely arose sometime around 2013, which coincided with initial reports of microcephaly. It was then stably maintained during subsequent spread to the America. The discovery should provide guidance for the study of pathogenetic mechanisms of the Zika virus and for the development of vaccines and treatments, Qin said. tyvek event wristbands24 hour wristbands coupon codebatman wristbandsilicone keychainballer bands
An employee stacks Johnson& Johnson Neosporin brand boxes on the production line at the J&J consumer healthcare products plant in Lititz, Pennsylvania, the United States. [Photo/Agencies] New drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies from the United States have played an important role in improving healthcare for Chinese, according to China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment. International pharmaceutical companies, including those from the US, have kept investing in research and development of new drugs in China, which has also contributed to improved innovation and research capabilities for domestic pharmaceutical companies, said Zuo Yuzeng, chief for communications at the association's R& D-based Pharmaceutical Association Committee. The committee is comprised of 40 international companies with pharmaceutical research and development capabilities, including 12 from the US, such as MSD and Xian Janssen, he said. The companies have brought many patent drugs to Chinese patients. Many were not available in China before, and have contributed to helping patients relieve pain and prolong life, the committee said. A recent new drug that was introduced to China was Sirturo, developed by Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of US company Johnson& Johnson. The drug, the first new medication for tuberculosis worldwide for the past 45 years, has been administered in China since Feb 24, and initial results showed it is effective for patients with multidrug-resistant TB, according to Wang Bin, deputy head of disease control and prevention for the National Health Commission. Asgar Rangoonwala, president of Xian Janssen, said the drug is now being used at 16 hospitals nationwide in a trial program. In April, China Drug Administration approved a nine-way HPV vaccine, which works against up to nine types of HPV and was developed by US company MSD. A similar vaccine, which was also developed by the company and works against four types of HPV, was approved by the administration in May last year. Previously, no vaccines were available on the Chinese mainland to effectively prevent cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among Chinese women aged 15 to 44 after breast cancer, except a two-way HPV vaccine, driving many women to Hong Kong to receive such vaccines. International pharmaceutical companies have also contributed to improved capacities in innovation and research of domestic companies through increasing research and development in China, partnering with domestic research institutes and providing training, according to R & D-based Pharmaceutical Association Committee. Some domestic international companies in recent years have been developing fast and they are catching up, said Zuo from the committee.
