Helsinki lab isolates Zika virus from blood
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E-mail Xinhua, April 1, 2016
The Helsinki Meilahti medical laboratories have found a new way for early detection of microcephaly caused by the Zika virus, local media reported Thursday.
Researchers at the laboratory, connected with the University of Helsinki, have for the first time been able to detect and isolate the Zika virus from patient's blood, said the reports.
With the breakthrough in Finland, a group of Finnish and U.S. researchers have confirmed the link between the Zika virus and microcephalia of a fetus. The condition can lead to a child having an abnormally small head.
The research benefited from the case of a Finnish lady in the 11th week of her pregnancy who had just returned from a vacation in Central America late last year. She had heard about the virus and wanted an examination.
Early ultrasounds of the fetus indicated nothing alarming, but the blood test indicated the presence of the virus some weeks thereafter. Damage of the fetus was discovered later.
Until this opportunity to use a blood test, samples of the amniotic fluid have been used to determine whether the fetus has been infected or not, but that procedure involves a risk of miscarriage.
Prof. Olli Vapalahti of Helsinki University told national broadcaster Yle that the isolation had worked out in Finland even though the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention had not been able to do it.
"We here in Helsinki have decades of experience from researching viruses like this, and good preparedness to ascertain the presence of a virus in a blood sample", he said.
Vapalahti said follow-up research talks are underway with Brazil.
Samples of the virus isolated in Finland have been sent to Germany. A study project there tries to ascertain whether European mosquitoes can pass on the virus.
With the manifest connection between the Zika virus and microcephaly, the speculation that chemicals are the possible cause of microcephaly appears to be unfounded, local media reported.
Earlier this winter, a pesticide called pyriproxyfen was speculated as a possible cause in Brazil.
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