An Update on Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus

Hercules Sakkas, Petros Bozidis, Xenofon Giannakopoulos, Nikolaos Sofikitis, Chrissanthy Papadopoulou
2018 Pathogens  
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the arthropod-borne flaviviruses (arboviruses) which are mainly transmitted by blood-sucking mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. ZIKV infection has been known to be rather asymptomatic or presented as febrile self-limited disease; however, during the last decade the manifestation of ZIKV infection has been associated with a variety of neuroimmunological disorders including Guillain–Barré syndrome, microcephaly and other central nervous
more » ... tem abnormalities. More recently, there is accumulating evidence about sexual transmission of ZIKV, a trait that has never been observed in any other mosquito-borne flavivirus before. This article reviews the latest information regarding the latter and emerging role of ZIKV, focusing on the consequences of ZIKV infection on the male reproductive system and the epidemiology of human-to-human sexual transmission.
doi:10.3390/pathogens7030066 pmid:30081445 fatcat:boupaae4zjb3ppfkqwplti3sla