LV MIGHT CAUSE STILLBIRTH

According to a research study published in the Journal Birth Defect Research Part -B Volume 77 , Page NO. 251-256 , 2006 the Virus Ljungan ( LV )might be responsible for large number of Stillbirths. Stillbirth is the death of a baby after the 20th week of pregnancy but before delivery.

Ljungan Virus is named by Virologist Bo Niklasson of Uppsala University in 1999 who discovered it in the Swedish river valley.LV is found in different species of native animals of Europe & United States.

In a laboratory study, researchers found that 86 % of pregnant laboratory mice infected with Ljungan virus delivered dead babies( mice ).This made the researchers to study further for the possible correlation between Ljungan & Stillbirths among humans.

In a new study researchers examined Stillbirths & placental tissue from humans. They found LV in 4 out of 10 stillborns that they autopsied & 5 out of 10 placental tissues .The researchers did not find the virus in the placental tissue from Normal pregnancies.The researchers suspect that LV might also cause Preeclampsia.

The researchers consider these finding as very powerful clues for stillbirths among humans & are engaged in further investigation.