More than half of the pregnancies are still under way, Denise Jamieson, co-lead of a pregnancy and birth- defects task force for the CDC’s Zika response, said in an interview.
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Almost 700 infections have been reported in the United States – all of them in people who had traveled to an outbreak area, or who had sex with someone who did.
Scientists are still trying to determine how many women infected with Zika during pregnancy are likely to give birth to babies with birth defects. “This highlights the importance of preventing unintended pregnancies, avoiding mosquito bites and for pregnant women to avoid traveling to areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission”.
A second case of Zika virus has been confirmed in Shelby County, according to the Shelby County Health Department.
❯❯ Click the Icon below to share this post…… Many other neurological abnormalities that are not immediately observable are also associated with babies born to infected mothers, according to medical experts.
A baby girl with birth defects, including microcephaly, was born two weeks ago in New Jersey to a woman from Honduras who had been infected with Zika. There is no vaccine or treatment available for the virus. It listed them as “pregnancy losses” – meaning a miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination after the fetus was seen to have birth defects and tested positive for the virus.
He said the total number of defects out of Colombia appear to be surprisingly low, however.
Zika can cause disgusting birth defects and can be transmitted by mosquitoes that are common in much of the United States. Other possible ways for an unborn baby to contract microcephaly include changes in their genes, infections during pregnancy, and the mom-to-be being exposed to toxins during her pregnancy.
Researchers are planning to monitor pregnant women in several cities in Colombia to understand how the babies develop and evaluate them for various potential developmental problems besides microcephaly and brain abnormalities, she said.
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“Although these outcomes occurred in pregnancies with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection, we do not know whether they were caused by Zika virus infection or other factors”, CDC said. Women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant, are advised to be especially vigilant. On the other hand, 10 percent of the women in their last trimester had not given birth yet, so the research is still preliminary.
