Though Zika is a short and mild illness, it greatly affects pregnant women because it could cause fetal deaths and birth defects among newborns.
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The baby was delivered by cesarean section following results of an ultrasound that confirmed severe microcephaly, a condition marked by partially developed brain and head and is known to lead to developmental delays, hearing loss, seizures and severe mental disabilities.
The mother of the second confirmed case contracted Zika in her home country, Honduras, and then visited her relatives in New Jersey.
Microcephaly is a birth defect, which doctors have identified as a possible effect of unborn babies being infected with the Zika virus.
The Asian tiger mosquito can carry the Zika virus.
A baby girl with Zika virus-related microcephaly was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on Tuesday, May 31.
Those services are “critical”, the federal memo says, because of the Zika virus’ potential impacts on pregnant women and their fetuses.
According to the World Health Organization’s most recent Zika report, 10 countries have reported births of infants with microcephaly or other brain anomalies linked to maternal Zika infection during pregnancy. Babies born with the deficiencies caused by Zika usually function as normal individuals until they start growing up.
This 2006 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host.
Even though this latest birth is the first confirmed case of a baby being born in the continental U.S. carrying the disease, there are reports that there might be earlier cases on the mainland. The hospital expressed that it will provide the woman and her baby with the best care they can give.
According to the doctors, the child’s mother is in stable condition but not doing well emotionally.
“I think it was because of a mosquito, but I really don’t know”, she said.
“The mother, who is visiting the United States, is receiving exceptional care during this hard time and we would appreciate everyone respecting the mother’s privacy”, Sheri Hensley, Senior Media Specialist at Hackensack University Medical Center, said in an email.
Al-Khan, an obstetrician-gynecologist, said the mother came to the medical center’s Donna A. Sanzari Women’s Hospital on Friday.
“I wasn’t surprised. I thought it was only a matter of time”, said Dr. Peter Wenger, Pediatric Immunology and Infectious Disease at the Children’s Hospital at St. Peter’s University Hospital.
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Since February, UK HealthCare’s obstetrics and gynecology clinics have been educating patients on the risks of Zika, particularly for pregnant patients or pregnant patients with partners who travel to these areas, said Dr. Wendy Hansen, chief of the UK Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It’s also transmitted sexually.
