The Effects Of Microcephaly And Other Fetal Brain Defects Essay

The media is an extremely powerful source in society today. Surprisingly, many are unaware of this and choose to believe everything they read in magazines, newspapers and online without actually understanding where this information is coming from. This is a monumental problem in our generation today because like Malcolm X said, the media has the power to make the innocent look guilty and the guilty look innocent. In other words, the media has the power to manipulate our views and perspectives on controversial issues to persuade us to believe their

The media has a great deal in presenting ‘facts’ about situations. This gives off false information and makes society react based on this information rather than the truth.

In 2000, Pulitzer-winning journalist Richard Rhodes published an article titled “The Media Violence Myth,” through the “American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression,” a liberal establishment dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment right to free speech. Despite coming from a background plagued with violence and abuse, Rhodes has studied nuclear history and weapons use for over 20 years and has developed a unique opinion about the media’s effect on public violence. In “The Media Violence Myth,” Rhodes aims to convince his readers that the media does not contribute to violence through its portrayal. He attempts this in discrediting his key opponent, Dave Grossman, through ad hominem, red herrings, and violent diction. These

2. When doing a media audit I felt that for the most part The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention media releases about Zika Virus were very informative, helpful, and timely. However, in January 2016 it was reported that The CDC rescheduled their advisory warning three times that day before finally giving their phone conference at 7p.m.(Washington Post, 2016). When the travel notice was released there was a lot of questions from the public. At this time The CDC didn’t have many answers as to what all was going on except that they found a connection between Zika Virus and fetuses , "What we know now is that fetuses can be infected with the virus. That's not new for infectious diseases, but it is new for this virus,”

“This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak. It is now clear that the virus causes microcephaly”( Tom Frieden). Microcephaly is an abnormal smallness of the head, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development. With the Olympics being held in Brazil, there is much cause to attention the potential disease being brought back to the U.S. by female athletes bringing an epidemic to carry havoc on the citizens of the United States. It can be spread very easily through mosquito bites of the yellow fever mosquito. From the mosquitoes, the virus does not cause many symptoms to its victims generating unknown awareness of the virus. “ Only one in five people who become infected with Zika virus will feel sick. Symptoms of Zika virus infection include fever, rash, pink eye, pains in joints, pain behind the eyes, headache, and muscle pains”( Levison, Matthew). The symptoms, if any, last 4-7 days in most cases. The Zika Virus is an easily spread disease with few symptoms.

McNeil, Donald G., and Pam Belluck. "Extensive Brain Defects seen in Babies of Mothers with Zika." New York Times, 14 Dec, 2016, pp. A.3, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

The media are mainly in the business of story-telling and are more likely to represent the story in a negative way. They enjoy provoking violence between the youth by dramatizing the stories and making it look like an alarming issue. Using an interesting headline will attract the reader, by making the problem or the story a lot more dramatic will increase the news value. This has a great influence power on society, government and policy makers. However, these behaviours are not fair to the individuals being made the main topic.

D. G. Florentino, F.J. Montero are the writers of “The Zika Virus and Pregnancy” and their intended audience were expert readers. “In Reaction to Zika Outbreak, Echoes of Polio” was written by Donald G. McNeil Jr. with the intention of the audience being lay reader’s.

The Zika virus has had a constant presence in the news for the past few months. This article describes Ana Gabriela do Prado Paschoal's struggles. She contracted the Zika virus while pregnant with her now three month old daughter Maria. Maria now suffers from brain lesions, stiff muscles, and brain damage. With the help of scans, imaging, and autopsies doctors learned that the Zika virus eats away at the fetal brain. It is responsible for shrinking or destroying the part of the brain that controls vision, thought process, and other basic functions.

The article “Study Finds Multiple Problems In Fetuses Exposed to Zika Virus”, author Rob Stein (2016) explains the complications that babies in the womb might face when exposed to the Zika virus. Zika’s recent outbreak has created global concern, especially due to the known correlation of microcephaly in newborn infants (Stein, 2016). Unfortunately, a recent study has shown that Zika might cause more than microcephaly in infants whose mother had the Zika virus. Stein includes the report by The New England Medical Journal that showed the results of Zika in pregnant women could lead to miscarriages, brain damage, growth issues, and other health complications (Stein, 2016). Zika is a global health issue that requires assistance, research, and intervention strategies.

When Zika first appeared on a large scale in 2007, no cases were directly related to Microcephaly. In fact, Zika would go unlinked to Microcephaly until 2015, due to lack of cases. Even now the evidence is lacking. As Zika spreads throughout brazil, Microcephaly has not. “When the cases first began and were reportedly linked to Zika virus, health officials believed they'd see an explosion of birth defects across Brazil,”says Dr. Mercola, an expert in the field of medicine. But that is not the case, As the Zika virus continues to spread, Microcephaly rates surprisingly stay the same, which is a massive piece of evidence that Zika may very have absolutely no link to Microcephaly. Interestingly enough, the original outbreak of

Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition affecting 2-12 babies per 10,000 live births in the United States every year (Smith, 2016). It is a condition where a person’s head size is smaller than others of the same age and sex. The smaller head size is due to undeveloped brain during pregnancy or has stopped growing after birth. Standardized charts were used to determine smaller than normal size by getting the head circumference. Microcephaly can occur with or without combination of other major birth defects.

As stated earlier the disease can be spread through mother to child contact. Women who are expecting children can pass off the disease to the child during pregnancy. Furthermore, Women who are infected just prior to delivery can give off the disease to her newborn. The transmission of the Zika virus to newborns has caused adverse effects, and many newborns have been diagnosed with Microcephaly as well as other fetal brain deformities. Microcephaly is a birth defect that causes an infant's head to be abnormally smaller than other infants his or her age and size, additionally, it causes them to have smaller underdeveloped brains.

Zika virus has been shown to particularly target and destroy developing brain cells. This explains why brain conditions don’t occur often in adults, who have fully formed brains. However fetuses, whose brains are developing throughout pregnancy, can suffer from microcephaly and other possible congenital disorders due to this attack from Zika.

In today’s world, there is an endless amount of information available to people everywhere around the globe. Mass media is definitely shaping our world, whether it is in a positive way or a negative way. Television and the radio waves provide us with hours of entertainment. The emergence of the Internet allows us to access thousands of pages of information within the reach our very own fingertips. But with the convenience of all this information comes along a certain level of responsibility. As a society, we Americans must decide what is appropriate information and entertainment for the masses to access and enjoy. But does today’s society give too much leeway in what it thinks as “appropriate?” Does increased