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Zika disease rebranded
Felipe Dana/AP/PA
Upfront
Zika disease rebranded WHAT’S in a name? The fetal disease caused by Zika virus could soon have a new title: Zika virus congenital syndrome. The name was proposed by the team who confirmed that the virus causes damage beyond microcephaly – the first fetal condition linked to the virus. Karin Nielsen-Saines at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues performed ultrasound scans on pregnant women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the 42 Zika-infected women in the study, 12 were carrying fetuses with severe abnormalities, including absence or withering of brain structures, tissue death, restricted growth and, in one case, microcephaly. Two otherwise healthy babies were stillborn following infection late in pregnancy.
No health problems were seen in fetuses from 16 uninfected women (New England Journal of Medicine, doi.org/bc44). “As we noticed such a spectrum of abnormalities, it’s fair to say this is a constellation of findings, which defines a congenital syndrome,” says Nielsen-Saines. It is encouraging that 70 per cent of the infected women had healthy fetuses, although it is not clear why they were unaffected. “We’ve been seeing growing evidence of the association between Zika and congenital central nervous system malformations, not just microcephaly, since the first cases were picked up,” says Wim Van Bortel at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Solna, Sweden.
Up like a rocket…
first stage of the rocket to a barge about the size of a football pitch in the Atlantic Ocean. But the heavy payload and high orbit meant the firm wasn’t expecting an easy touchdown – a prediction that proved correct. “Rocket landed hard on the droneship,” tweeted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “Didn’t expect this one to work (v hot reentry), but next flight has a good chance.” SpaceX has managed one successful landing, in December last year, on the ground rather than at sea. Three previous at-sea landings have failed.
–Microcephaly is now just one worry–
Health data spread
people underestimate the amount of data that is collected, and are confused about what anonymised data is. The use by private companies was a serious concern for many people. While 54 per cent supported commercial access for research purposes, 17 per cent say they do not want companies to have access to their data under any circumstances. Of those, a fifth said companies can’t be trusted to keep their data safe. The Wellcome Trust says the poll highlights the need for an opt-out clause.
DO YOU know how the UK health service uses patient data? No? You’re in good company. A poll by Ipsos MORI of 2017 UK adults has found that just a third of us have
a good understanding of how the NHS uses personal data. The NHS collects data on people attending hospital for emergency or scheduled procedures, and for outpatient clinics, for example. After a person’s name and address have been removed, this anonymised data can be accessed by organisations such as charities, universities and private firms. This is supposed to be for research that benefits health, says Sam Smith of the campaign medConfidential – but he says that such a definition is open to interpretation. The Ipsos MORI poll forms part of a study carried out by the Wellcome Trust. It concludes that 6 | NewScientist | 12 March 2016
Perry van Duijnhoven
“People underestimate how much of their health data is collected, and can be used by other parties”
GOOD launch, bad landing – again. SpaceX is continuing to test its reusable rocket technology, even as it carries out successful missions for its customers. On 4 March, the firm lofted a communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for Luxembourg operator SES. The launch followed four attempts that were aborted due to fuelling issues. The satellite was delivered to geosynchronous orbit, and SpaceX then tried to return the
Orangutan boost THEY’RE not just hanging around. There are more than twice as many orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra than we thought. A team led by Serge Wich, a primatologist at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, found evidence of more than 14,600 apes there, up from the previous estimate of 6600. The estimate grew as Wich’s team searched places no one had –Living the high life– looked before, such as at higher
Upfront
Zika disease rebranded WHAT’S in a name? The fetal disease caused by Zika virus could soon have a new title: Zika virus congenital syndrome. The name was proposed by the team who confirmed that the virus causes damage beyond microcephaly – the first fetal condition linked to the virus. Karin Nielsen-Saines at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues performed ultrasound scans on pregnant women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the 42 Zika-infected women in the study, 12 were carrying fetuses with severe abnormalities, including absence or withering of brain structures, tissue death, restricted growth and, in one case, microcephaly. Two otherwise healthy babies were stillborn following infection late in pregnancy.
No health problems were seen in fetuses from 16 uninfected women (New England Journal of Medicine, doi.org/bc44). “As we noticed such a spectrum of abnormalities, it’s fair to say this is a constellation of findings, which defines a congenital syndrome,” says Nielsen-Saines. It is encouraging that 70 per cent of the infected women had healthy fetuses, although it is not clear why they were unaffected. “We’ve been seeing growing evidence of the association between Zika and congenital central nervous system malformations, not just microcephaly, since the first cases were picked up,” says Wim Van Bortel at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Solna, Sweden.
Up like a rocket…
first stage of the rocket to a barge about the size of a football pitch in the Atlantic Ocean. But the heavy payload and high orbit meant the firm wasn’t expecting an easy touchdown – a prediction that proved correct. “Rocket landed hard on the droneship,” tweeted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “Didn’t expect this one to work (v hot reentry), but next flight has a good chance.” SpaceX has managed one successful landing, in December last year, on the ground rather than at sea. Three previous at-sea landings have failed.
–Microcephaly is now just one worry–
Health data spread
people underestimate the amount of data that is collected, and are confused about what anonymised data is. The use by private companies was a serious concern for many people. While 54 per cent supported commercial access for research purposes, 17 per cent say they do not want companies to have access to their data under any circumstances. Of those, a fifth said companies can’t be trusted to keep their data safe. The Wellcome Trust says the poll highlights the need for an opt-out clause.
DO YOU know how the UK health service uses patient data? No? You’re in good company. A poll by Ipsos MORI of 2017 UK adults has found that just a third of us have
a good understanding of how the NHS uses personal data. The NHS collects data on people attending hospital for emergency or scheduled procedures, and for outpatient clinics, for example. After a person’s name and address have been removed, this anonymised data can be accessed by organisations such as charities, universities and private firms. This is supposed to be for research that benefits health, says Sam Smith of the campaign medConfidential – but he says that such a definition is open to interpretation. The Ipsos MORI poll forms part of a study carried out by the Wellcome Trust. It concludes that 6 | NewScientist | 12 March 2016
Perry van Duijnhoven
“People underestimate how much of their health data is collected, and can be used by other parties”
GOOD launch, bad landing – again. SpaceX is continuing to test its reusable rocket technology, even as it carries out successful missions for its customers. On 4 March, the firm lofted a communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for Luxembourg operator SES. The launch followed four attempts that were aborted due to fuelling issues. The satellite was delivered to geosynchronous orbit, and SpaceX then tried to return the
Orangutan boost THEY’RE not just hanging around. There are more than twice as many orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra than we thought. A team led by Serge Wich, a primatologist at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, found evidence of more than 14,600 apes there, up from the previous estimate of 6600. The estimate grew as Wich’s team searched places no one had –Living the high life– looked before, such as at higher