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It’s long been understood that the Zika virus can affect prenatal development. The common belief was that a mother infected could have problems down the road with her child’s growth and development. Microcephaly, or a small head, could lead to profound brain destruction and even brain damage. Now, there is some significant information leading to an effect Zika can have on adult brains as well.

Mice were tested for the virus and it showed some different and alarming results. Much more studying is needed for confirmation, but the signs point to adult risk. As posted by Cell Stem Cell, a medical journal, confirmed that the virus hones directly in on developing nerve cells. A mother with Zika often has a miscarriage or if the child survives, they have some form of permanent brain damage, with no cure.

Zika is becoming a surprising study for scientists. They are not sure what the true result is the virus. As Dr. Frieden, of the CDC, stated there is a lot that they don’t know about it. Recent studies have shown that Zika “prefers” immature brain cells to target. In mice, it centered on the subgranular zone and the subventricular zone of the forebrain. Because of this centering, it seems that the virus doesn’t care about age, rather it just targets those areas without discrimination.

Dr. Frieden confirmed that data suggests that fetal neural stem cells are vulnerable as are adult stem cells. Adults may not suffer obvious long-term effects, but there still may be consequences of exposure. For this reason, Zika is not considered harmless to adults. So far the worst results in adults come in the form of rashes, red eyes, headaches and muscle aches. It also has the potential to cause Guilain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder that paralyzes the victim.