Lassa virus is a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, a single-stranded RNA virus. The virus is the causative agent of a hemorrhagic fever and can be transmitted between species (zoonotic). Discovered in 1969 when two missionary nurses died in Nigeria and today still occurs mainly in West Africa.
Death rates are high for women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Fetal death (95%) occurs in uterus of infected pregnant mothers.
Lassa virus virions (Image: CDC USA)
Page Links: Introduction | Some Recent Findings | References | WWW Links | Glossary
Gunther S, Lenz O. Lassa virus. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2004;41(4):339-90.
Ornoy A, Tenenbaum A. Pregnancy outcome following infections by coxsackie, echo, measles, mumps, hepatitis, polio and encephalitis viruses. Reprod Toxicol. 2006 May;21(4):446-57.
Below is a list of some known maternal, then fetal and postnatal infections that impact upon development.
Only a very brief overview is given, for more details see the listed internal and external links.
The Australian NHMRC (1988) recommends neonates be assessed for follow-up care under the following conditions.
(see the NHMRC WWW Page)
WHO Haemorrhagic fevers, Viral
CDC (USA)
Public Health Training Network Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (viewable Webcasts requires Media Player) |
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Recommendations
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (UK)
Infection and Pregnancy - study group recommendations (Jun 2001)
Reviews | Articles | Search NCBI Bookshelf | Search PubMed | Glossary
Reviews
Gunther S, Lenz O. Lassa virus. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2004;41(4):339-90.
Fisher-Hoch SP, McCormick JB. Lassa fever vaccine. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2004 Apr;3(2):189-97.
Degani S. Sonographic findings in fetal viral infections: a systematic review. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2006 May;61(5):329-36.
Ornoy A, Tenenbaum A. Pregnancy outcome following infections by coxsackie, echo, measles, mumps, hepatitis, polio and encephalitis viruses. Reprod Toxicol. 2006 May;21(4):446-57.
Giles ML, Garland SM, Grover SR, Lewin SM, Hellard ME. Impact of an education campaign on management in pregnancy of women infected with a blood-borne virus. Med J Aust. 2006 Apr 17;184(8):389-92.
Articles
Search NCBI Bookshelf: prenatal viral infection | Medical Microbiology - prenatal viral infection
Search PubMed: Search May 2006 "lassa virus" 370 reference articles of which 27 were reviews.
Search term = lassa virus | prenatal viral infection
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Alcohol "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome"
Viral Infection
cytomegalovirus
Trauma
These links require online access to Merck Manuals on Women's Health Issues. http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual_home2/sec22/sec22.jsp
Risk Factors Present Before Pregnancy
Risk Factors That Develop During Pregnancy
Diseases that complicate Pregnancy
Problems Affecting the Fetus or Newborn
Mitral Valve Prolapse
High Blood Pressure
Anemias
Kidney Disease
Infectious Disease
Diabetes
Thyroid
Liver
Asthma
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Myasthenia Gravis
Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
>Surgery During Pregnancy
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Malnutrition
Infection
Trauma
see also Normal Childhood Development
You should look at normal development of the effected systems in the embryo. Development Notes
Alternatively, go on to look at Systematic Development of organs and tissues.
For those wanting to see dynamic processes of development (and have a reasonably quick connection) then the Movies pages are good for watching changes occur.
The study of human development has relied extensively on studying the process in other model animals. For those wanting to see the process of development in other species then the other embryos pages are a good start.
Home Page
Embryo stages
Fetal Dev
Dev Notes 1
Dev Notes 2
System Notes
Acknowledgements
Abnormal Development
Australian Statistics
Abnormalities by Systems
Prenatal Diagnosis
Fetal Origins Hypothesis
Intrauterine Growth Retardation
Twinning
Genetic Abnormalities
Down Syndrome
Edwards Syndrome
Maternal Factors
Neural Tube Defects
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Smoking
Chemical
Drugs
Radiation
Heavy Metal
Iodine Deficiency
Viral Infection
Rubella
Parvovirus
Varicella
Lassa virus
Databases
NINDS Factsheets
Movies
Audio
Class Notes
Serial Images
K12 Students
Abnormal
Viral Infection
Embryology in the News
Histology
Site Map
School of Med Sci
UNSW Medicine
University of NSW
UNSW Cell Biology
NCBI Books
Dev Biol (Gilbert)
Maternal infections can impact on normal development. These effects can be directly by virus crossing the placental barrier and infecting the developing embryo, or indirectly due to the impact on the mother, for example the effects of fever.
Often the developmental impact can be variable, depending on the time during development that the infection takes place, the "critical periods".
Please email Dr Mark Hill if you wish to make a comment about this current project.