Researchers following scores of pregnant women in Brazil infected by the Zika virus say the pathogen can cause a range of “grave” complications and birth defects – including some that have not previously been linked to the virus – and that problems can surface at any stage of pregnancy.
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The team studied 88 pregnant women who went to a clinic at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro with the intention of being tested for the virus.
“These were women infected in the first and second trimester of pregnancy”, Dr. Karin Nielsen, lead author of the study, said in a telephone interview.
California public health officials on Friday reported that two more cases of Zika virus have surfaced in the state since January 1, bringing the total to eight.
“Zika virus has been found in the brains of aborted babies with small heads”, said Guo-Li Ming, Johns Hopkins University neurology professor. But he stressed that his study does not prove that Zika causes microcephaly, nor that it works by that route.
The Colombian Collaborative Network on Zika, the group of researchers that diagnosed the children, is also investigating several more possible cases of microcephaly with a suspected link to Zika, Nature reported.
In what has been hailed as a major breakthrough, scientists have announced they believe they understand how the Zika virus causes a rare birth defect in which babies are born without abnormally large heads and underdeveloped brains.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has become the latest country to report autochthonous, or locally acquired Zika virus transmission, according to a report from the World Health Organization Friday. An infected pregnant woman can pass Zika virus to her fetus during pregnancy. Seventy-two of the women had their Zika infection confirmed by polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) testing, which can identify genetic material from the virus. Researchers found that virus infects these stem cells, resulting in cell death and disruption of cell growth.
The new study was conducted by researchers at UCLA and at the Fiocruz Institute in Brazil.
The preliminary results are based off of the first 42 Zika infected women who agreed to ultrasounds.
The case studies of the three newborns come a few weeks after Colombia reported a “probable” case of microcephaly in an aborted fetus.
Health officials said all of the residents had contracted the virus after traveling in countries where the Zika virus is present.
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“We know people would be interested in knowing this information, but a lot still needs to be done”, Tang said.
