The Centers for Disease Control said earlier on Friday that the number of pregnant women in the US infected by Zika was three times higher than previously reported, reflecting a change in how the government counts cases.
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Among the 157 pregnant women from US states and the District of Columbia who are being monitored, only 49 percent reported symptoms consistent with Zika – mostly rash and fever. Therefore, starting Friday, the CDC will report numbers of pregnant women with Zika from the U.S. Zika Pregnancy Registry and the Puerto Rico Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System, two systems created to collect information about pregnancies and birth outcomes among women with any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, with or without symptoms.
CDC says doctors should consider testing pregnant women who have been to an area where Zika is spreading, whether or not they have symptoms.
“We’ve learned a lot in the past four months and now we know of reports of asymptomatic Zika infection linked to microcephaly, miscarriage”, said Dr. Margaret Honein, Chief of Birth Defects Branch at the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. The change was made after recent evidence about the virus’ impact on pregnant patients who do not outwardly show symptoms of the infection.
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, left, speaks to members of the media after receiving a briefing on the ongoing response to the Zika virus from members of his public health team, Friday, May 20, 2016, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes egypti mosquito, which also spreads Dengue and Chikungunya. “The baby is doing is fine and we will wait to see how the pregnancy goes”, said Nix. In some cases, the CDC said, these women delivered babies that had birth defects related to the virus.
According to the CDC, there are 544 cases of Zika in the United States, none of which have been acquired via local mosquitoes.
In Los Angeles, officials are taking prevention measures against Zika after health officials warned that outbreaks could be expected in Southern California.
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On Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved the $1.1 billion emergency funding. “The investigation continues, and the Zika Plan is being followed in light of this case which is from Belize City”, the Ministry said. “This was based on public health assessments of all the work that needs to be done”, Obama said.
