tapeworm

ジカウィルス増殖に効く薬の完成までそう遠くはないかもしれません。

Tapeworm drug stops Zika replication in lab

PARIS (AFP-Jiji) — A common drug used to kill tapeworm prevented the Zika virus from replicating in lab experiments, scientists have said.
The medicine, Nicolsamide, was previously shown to be safe for pregnant women, which may boost its rapid deployment to treat Zika infection, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine on Aug. 29.
“The findings should significantly advance current Zika virus research and have an immediate effect on the development of anti-Zika therapeutics,” the team concluded.
Transmitted mainly by mosquitos but also through sexual transmission, Zika can cause crippling birth defects in the foetuses of infected women.
To find medications that — if found effective — could be used quickly, the researchers scanned 6,000 compounds already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or in clinical trials.
The encouraging results have yet to be reproduced outside the laboratory, the scientists cautioned.
“There is no evidence yet that Nicolsamide is effective in the body,” coauthor Hongjun Song, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP. “Additional animal studies, and then human clinical trials, are necessary.”
But the fact that the drug has proven safe in previous studies could drastically cut short that process, which often takes a decade or longer.
The anti-tapeworm drug, in use for nearly half a century, could also be given to men and non-pregnant women exposed to the virus, both to reduce transmission and possibly to prevent other neurological problems caused by Zika.Speech

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003181855

今回とりあげるのはtapewormです。
ジカウィルス増殖阻止に効果があるとみられる薬は何かの「駆除剤」ということから、生物名とみられます。

LDOCEでは“a long flat worm that lives in the bowels of humans and other animals and can make them ill”と定義されており、日本語では「サナダムシ、条虫」ということがわかりました。したがって、“tapeworm drug”で「サナダムシ駆除剤」となります。

サナダムシとは寄生虫のことで、多くは脊椎動物の消化管に寄生します。画像を見てみると、英語名にtapeが付くように、平たく細長い紐の形をしています。2014年に、消化器官だけでなく人の脳にまで寄生していたケースが報告され、話題となりました。

人体にも優しい薬がはやくできることを祈るばかりです。(flyingbird)