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Introduction: The aim of this case was to investigate the association of the Zika virus infection in utero with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as clinical outcome that presented no congenital anomalies. Methods: ASD was diagnosed in the second year of life by different child neurologists and confirmed by DSM-5 and ASQ. After that, an extensive clinical, epidemiological, and genetic evaluations were performed, with main known ASD causes ruled out. Results: An extensive laboratorial search was done, with normal findings. SNP array identified no pathogenic variants. Normal neuroimaging and EEG findings were also obtained. ZIKV (Zika virus) IgG was positive, while IgM was negative. Other congenital infections were negative. The exome sequencing did not reveal any pathogenic variant in genes related to ASD. Conclusion: Accordingly, this report firstly associates ZIKV exposure to ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of AD has been expanded in the last years, the potential association between COVID-19 and AD remains unclear.3 Importantly, some pathomechanisms related to AD are shared with COVID-19. In line with this, SARS-CoV-2 may activate glial cells, thus potentially triggering chronic neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.3 Of note, the inflammatory response may lead to the neuronal death observed in postmortem samples of patients with COVID-19,4 as well as SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion may trigger neuropathological changes.5 Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common age-related neurodegenerative disease. Keywords: Infection; Inflammation; Immune responses; SARS coronavirus; Virus classification EN Infection Inflammation Immune responses SARS coronavirus Virus classification 833 835 3 01/21/22 20220301 NES 220301 The COVID-19 pandemic has represented an exceptional health challenge as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has acute and chronic consequences. [Extracted from the article]