A Honduran woman infected with the rapidly spreading Zika virus gave birth to a baby with microcephaly, a severe birth defect linked to the virus, in New Jersey on Tuesday, The Record reported. Experts believe that the woman was infected with Zika during her pregnancy’s second trimester. Fox News reported the mother has been emotionally unwell following the birth but there is now no more information available about either mother or child.
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The woman delivered the baby through a cesarean section Tuesday at Hackensack University Medical Center, said Dr. Abdulla Al-Kahn, the hospitals director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery.There have been more than 500 Zika cases in the USA, all involving people who were infected in outbreak areas in South America, Central America or the Caribbean or people who had sex with infected travelers. In addition to microcephaly, the baby, who was born by cesarean section Tuesday more than a month premature, has structural abnormalities of the eye, said Dr. Julia A. Piwoz, section chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at HUMC.
Doctors say the infant’s now being fed by IV lines while they evaluate her condition. I would like to emphasize that neither the mother nor the baby acquired this infection in the United States.
The day after the baby was delivered by C-section, he said, has been “difficult” for the mother because of the emotional toll.
Microcephaly is a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development.
The mother would likely be released from the hospital in a few days, Al-Khan said. “But of course what human being isn’t going to be devastated by this news?” Mosquitoes aren’t yet spreading Zika in the continental USA, but experts predict small outbreaks are possible as mosquito season heats up.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials confirmed in April of the definite link between Zika virus and microcephaly marking the first time that a mosquito-borne virus is associated with congenital brain defects.
In January, health officials in Hawaii announced a Zika-linked microcephaly case, the nation’s first, involving a baby born to a woman who had lived in Brazil, the outbreak’s epicenter, early in her pregnancy. But at this stage it’s not been confirmed if this baby also has microcephaly, and the location has not yet been disclosed.
“The mother was initially in Honduras, where she contracted the Zika infection”. Pregnant women and those who are planning to conceive should avoid traveling to those regions in the meantime.
But there may be far bigger problems when it comes to Zika and health coverage, says Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
That said, scientists are discovering new things about the virus regularly- especially when it comes to sexual transmission. Lawmakers still must reach agreement on funding after both houses approved different amounts: $1.1 billion in the Senate and $622 million in the House.
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Earnest said it was unclear whether the steps the White House has called for would have prevented this case, but said it’s a reminder of the seriousness of the situation. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission.
