Varicella-Zoster Virus and the Effects on the Vestibular System 

Presenter

Tim Fobes

Campus

Quinsigamond Community College

Sponsor

Opeyemi Odewale, Department of Biology, Quinsigamond Community College

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A44, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 3 (A41-A60) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The 1980s were a wild time. Cocaine was rampant, Madonna was a material girl in a material world, Maverick was inverted, and I was a child soaking it all in (except the cocaine). What a time to be alive. Although there was one often overlooked and darker part of the 1980s: Herpes parties for kids. Parents, believing that the herpes virus could cause sterilization if contracted as an adult, set the goal to infect their beloved children with the miserable communicable virus by gathering their offspring in groups, feeding them cake, and coercing them to play as close with the infected host as possible. The virus spread like wildfire throughout neighborhoods, communal play groups, and schools. Adolescent herpes was rampant and showed no signs of slowing down, and I was one of the many infected.  

The Varicella-Zoster Virus, also known as Herpes Simplex Virus 3 and, more commonly, Chickenpox, had lasting effects that no one had predicted. Deep within the nervous system, the virus enters a period of latency that lasts for decades. Upon reactivation, the virus spreads through the nervous system and begins to replicate as it once did when first introduced to the host. As an invisible attack on the vestibular system, the virus replicates and spreads throughout the inner ear causing hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo.

The presentation examines the life of the virus in the human body and its violent attacks on the vestibular system.

Keywords

Virus, Microbiology, Vestibular System, Antiviral, Nervous System

Research Area

Biological Organisms

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