Zika Virus Infection and Colorectal Involvement

Document Type : Letter to the Editor

Author

Dr DY Patil University, Pune, India

10.5812/acr.93108.

Abstract

In medicine, the clinical spectrum of vector-borne dis-
eases is an important issue. In particular, the colorectal in-
volvement of these diseases has attracted much interest.
In a previous publication, the interrelationship between
the dengue virus and colorectal disease was explored (1). In
the present article, the author would like to highlight the
importance of investigating the relationship between Zika
virus infection and colorectal disease.
Zika virus disease is an emerging vector-borne disease
presently considered as a significant public health prob-
lem. As a new disease, further clinical research on this
condition is still required. To the best of our knowledge,
the colorectal presentation of Zika virus infection is yet to
be reported. Nevertheless, it has already been ascertained
that the Zika virus can infect the colorectal mucosa (2). In
a recent report by Li et al. the Zika virus was reported to be
able to infect rectal mucosa, with this pathology being re-
lated to the fecal shedding of the virus (2). The Zika virus
can also be detected using rectal swabs (3, 4); a recent re-
port demonstrated that rectal swab samples led to positive
viral tests in 10% of patients infected with the Zika virus (4).
Rectal infection with the Zika virus can explain the dis-
ease transmission via homosexual contact, which is an im-
portant mode of Zika virus infection (5). It can also im-
ply the necessity for infection control during any medical
procedure involving the colorectal area. Finally, it is an in-
teresting research issue to follow up whether any clinical
problems are caused by Zika virus infection at the colorec-
tal mucosa

Keywords

References

1. Wiwanitkit V. Dengue and Colorectal Disease. Ann Colorectal Res. 2019;7(1). e87992. doi: 10.5812/acr.87992.
2. Li C, Deng YQ, Zu S, Quanquin N, Shang J, Tian M, et al. Zika virus shedding in the stool and infection through the anorectal mucosa in mice. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2018;7(1):169. doi: 10.1038/s41426-018-0170- 6. [PubMed: 30333476]. [PubMed Central: PMC6193040].
3. Calvet GA, Kara EO, Giozza SP, Botto-Menezes CHA, Gaillard P, de Oliveira Franca RF, et al. Study on the persistence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in body fluids of patients with ZIKV infection in Brazil. BMC Infect Dis. 2018;18(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s12879-018-2965-4. [PubMed: 29357841]. [PubMed Central: PMC5778641].
4. Botto-Menezes CHA, Neto AM, Calvet GA, Kara EO, Lacerda MVG, Castilho MDC, et al. Zika Virus in Rectal Swab Samples. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019;25(5):951–4. doi: 10.3201/eid2505.180904. [PubMed: 31002058]. [PubMed Central: PMC6478207].
5. Sookaromdee P, Wiwanitkit V. Homosexual and Zika virus infection: Is it a new start of new problem for gay? Indian J Sex Transm Dis AIDS. 2018;39(1):61–2. doi: 10.4103/ijstd.IJSTD_65_16. [PubMed: 30187030]. [PubMed Central: PMC6111638].
Iranian Journal of Colorectal Research
Volume 7, Issue 2
June 2019
Pages 1-1

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