There are more reasons to be cautious of the Zika virus as experts have discovered, in a new research, that it could last longer in the eyes. Thus, individuals infected could potentially spread the virus via tears, apart from mosquito bites and sexual contact. Experts are hoping to uncover more about the Zika virus from this initial discovery.
The study, which has been conducted in mice test subjects by experts from the Washington University School of Medicine, suggests that the Zika virus makes use of the eyes as its "reservoir." After injecting the test subjects with Zika, the researchers learned that the virus continued to "live in the eyes for seven days," according to the Eurekalert press release.
The experts also learned that genetic traces of Zika were present in the tears of its test subjects, but these do not appear to be infectious after 28 days. However, the case might not be the same for human tears.
Crying #Zika: Virus Material Found in Tears https://t.co/xiFxzhQu71 pic.twitter.com/msFupS9tWu
— Live Science (@LiveScience) September 7, 2016
The findings could also explain why some patients infected with the Zika virus develop eye conditions, including vision loss. According to the US News, a third of babies affected with Zika presented various eye problems. Yet, the researchers are still working on determining exactly how the virus travels from the brain to the eyes as there are many possibilities, such as through the blood-retina barrier or through the optic nerve.
The latest discovery suggests, however, that the medical community might need to look into other possibilities on how the Zika virus could spread. It might also compound other researchers that are looking into Zika infection via sexual transmission. "Sexual transmission is probably not playing a major role, but it could be some other bodily fluid - saliva, or urine or tears," said Dr. Michael Diamond, one of the senior authors of the study, as per the Mirror.
Since the epidemic, doctors continue to discover more about the virus' behavior and effects. "[Zika is] more explosive than we can account for by just mosquitoes and the level of Zika virus in human blood," said Diamond.
