A baby girl who died shortly after being born in the Houston area is the first Zika-associated death in Texas. The mother had traveled to El Salvador while she was pregnant.
Advertisement
The only other confirmed Zika-related death in the US was that of an elderly Utah man who died in June. “Harris County Public Health continues to actively work on protecting the community from mosquito-related diseases, but individuals must also protect themselves from getting bitten by mosquitoes locally and overseas”.
The US Centers for Disease Control says 15 infants have been born in the United States with Zika-related defects, and six pregnancy losses are associated with Zika infection.
The department said the infant died recently, but did not say precisely when. The state has reported a total of 99 cases, all acquired through travel.
More than 7,300 Americans have been diagnosed with Zika, including 1,825 in the continental US and Hawaii, according to the CDC. Most of those cases, however, were contracted overseas, where the virus is more prevalent.
Florida is the only state in the USA to have local cases of Zika. Some babies with no immediate signs of problems have also been born in the U.S.to Zika-infected mothers. Federal officials last week warned pregnant women to avoid the Miami neighborhood and a 1-square-mile area around it. Those numbers could grow.
This infant is the second to have microcephaly related to the Zika virus.
And in June, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have provided $1.1 billion in funding to fight Zika, accusing Republicans of filling the bill with unrelated and politically charged provisions like restrictions on Planned Parenthood, the women’s health organization. Zika can also be transmitted sexually.
The patient was a female newborn who had birth defects, including microcephaly, according to a news release Tuesday from the health department.
Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon and death is rare. She accused Trump of offering “super big tax breaks” to huge companies and rich people and disputed his claim that she wanted the middle class to pay more.
Advertisement
No vaccine or medications are available to prevent or treat Zika infections.
