Doctors from the Hackensack University Medical Center guaranteed there is no risk of Zika dissemination, after delivering a baby girl with a birth defect due to Zika.
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An infant born with microcephaly in New Jersey on Tuesday was delivered via emergency cesarean section and remains on intravenous nutrition, doctors said Wednesday.
“I told my gynecologist that I had an allergic episode”, she told Fox News from her hospital bed at Hackensack University Medical Center.
The baby girl’s 31-year-old mother reportedly acquired Zika from Honduras, her home country, the New York Times reported.
Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, the hospital’s director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery, said the mother came to the United States for treatment after Zika symptoms were discovered. Earlier this month, researchers revealed how Zika manages to get through the placenta to damage the brain of the developing fetus. According to the CDC, babies with the condition typically have smaller brains that might not have developed properly.
Al-Khan confirmed to the AP that the mother had a normal ultrasound early in her pregnancy and that another one last week showed birth defects, including microcephaly. It can cause miscarriages or stillbirths as well as vision and hearing problems. They found out that woman was infected with the Zika virus. The virus is carried by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes – common in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Their partners are also advised to watch out for Zika symptoms and ensure protection when having sex since Zika can be transmitted through intercourse.
The first reported case in the USA was a child with Zika-related microcephaly born in Hawaii in January.
The mother was close to full-term in her pregnancy.
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the Zika virus. Use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and long trousers, and stay inside with air conditioning and window screens as much as possible, experts recommend.
“And if you’re pregnant and you’re in a place where Zika is spreading, do everything you can to protect yourself from mosquito bites”, Frieden said. At least twelve cases in the United States have now been confirmed by the CDC.
There will also nearly certainly be local outbreaks in the USA, the CDC predicts, but not epidemics.
This is not the first case of a child born with Zika-linked complications in the United States.
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There are more than 1,400 reported cases in 10 countries so far reporting cases of microcephaly linked to Zika, majority in Brazil.
