Doctors at the hospital pointed out that the baby was not developing well in the last month and was also born with intestinal and visual problems.It was unknown how much the child weighed but in cases such as this, babies born with the disease suffer from low birth weight.
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The Honduran woman’s baby was delivered premature by cesarean section Tuesday at Hackensack University Medical Center, said Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, the hospital’s director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery.
Officials did not say whether the baby was born prematurely or how far along the mother was into her pregnancy.
Even if 18 cases of Zika virus have been confirmed in New Jersey, none of them have been contracted neither in the state nor in the country.
She was admitted to the emergency room of Hackensack University Medical Center on Friday while vacationing in the United States.
New Mexico State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Paul Ettestad said the woman started feeling the effects of the virus when she returned from her Caribbean trip in early May.
The Zika virus was first linked to microcephaly in Brazil which now has more than 1,300 confirmed cases that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Officials said that of all things they can do, education is the most important.
Zika is transmitted primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito, though it can also be spread through blood transfusions and sex.
“It’s time for us to do something”, he said. Microcephaly has been related to Zika Virus in recent studies. He said there was a “medical need” for delivering the baby at about 35 weeks of gestation, more than a month shy of full term. CDC and World Health Organization are still adamant on reminding pregnant mothers to avoid traveling to areas where Zika-carrying mosquitoes are present.
“We are working with the [New Jersey] Dept. of Health and will perform confirmatory testing for Zika infection in the infant after samples are received”, the department said in a statement.
Women who don’t intend to get pregnant right now are understandably anxious about future pregnancies.
Symptoms of Zika virus are generally mild in healthy adults, but the virus poses the largest threat to fetuses, as it can lead to birth defects like microcephaly.
The mother of an infant born in New Jersey with microcephaly said a doctor in her home country of Honduras told her everything would be “fine” after she reported having a fever earlier in her pregnancy. “We also want New Mexicans, especially pregnant women, to heed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel advisories to not travel to areas with active Zika virus transmission for the duration of their pregnancy”.
There have been no reports of Zika-induced microcephaly contracted in the United States.
Of the 216 million annual journeys from Zika areas to the United States, an estimated 51.7 million involved childbearing-aged women, and 2.3 million involved pregnant women.
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The unidentified 31-year-old woman’s story began in Honduras in December when she was pregnant and developed a rash.
