Zika- How it affects infants

From my previous posts, it was mentioned that Zika rarely causes death, and hospitalization is also uncommon. So what is the most devastating effect of the Zika virus? It can cause microcephaly in infants. When the virus first began to spread like wildfire in Brazil, Doctors were not very certain of the implications. However, what was observed, was that there was a raising number of microcephaly in infants. Based on further investigation, a link was established between the virus and microcephaly. 

What is Microcephaly

Microcephaly (my-kroh-SEF-uh-lee) is a rare neurological condition in which an infant's head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age and sex. Sometimes detected at birth, microcephaly usually is the result of the brain developing abnormally in the womb or not growing as it should after birth.

Microcephaly can be caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Children with microcephaly often have developmental issues. Generally there's no treatment for microcephaly, but early intervention with supportive therapies, such as speech and occupational therapies, may help enhance your child's development and improve quality of life.(Definition from Mayo Clinic) 

A report of 35 infants with microcephaly who were born during an outbreak of Zikus virus infection in Brazil in 2015 described the following brain abnormalities: intracranial calcifications, ventriculomegaly, and neuronal migration disorders (lissencephaly and pachygyria). Other anomalies included congenital contractures and clubfoot. An important distinction is that neither these infants nor their mothers had laboratory-confirmed Zika virus; however, most of the mothers (~75%) reported symptoms consistent with Zika virus (taken from CDC)

What more Public health officials and Doctors are advising, is that women who would like to get pregnant, and are living in locations where the Zika virus is prevalent, is to delay their pregnancy until the prevalence of the virus has decreased. 

Image Sources:

1. http://www.abclawcenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/original_microcephaly.jpg

2.http://ichef-.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/0D22/production/_87826330_baby_head_zika_624_v2.png