An initial infection with dengue virus did not prime monkeys for an especially virulent infection of Zika virus, according to a study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Nor did a bout with Zika make a follow-on dengue infection more dangerous.
An initial infection with dengue virus did not prime monkeys for an especially virulent infection of Zika virus, according to a study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Nor did a bout with Zika make a follow-on dengue infection more dangerous.
As outbreaks on Pacific islands and in the Americas in recent years made Zika virus a pressing public health concern, the Zika virus’s close similarity to dengue presented the possibility that one infection may exacerbate the other.
Dengue virus infections are infamous for being bad the first time around. But following infection with one of the four variants (called serotypes) of dengue with an infection by a different serotype can amplify the already dangerous symptoms — high temperature, fatigue and pain — and make dengue fever even more life-threatening.
Read more at University of Wisconsin-Madison
