Other viruses that cause the birth defect carry higher risk – like rubella, which has a 40 to 100 percent risk of birth defects when women are infected during their first trimester of pregnancy.
Advertisement
“To date, a total of thirteen samples have been tested for Zika virus with only one being positive”, he said, while telling citizens that “there is no need for alarm”.
In the study in the Lancet medical journal which analysed a 2013-14 Zika outbreak in French Polynesia, researchers said the risk of microcephaly is about 1 for every 100 women infected with the virus during the first trimester of pregnancy. French researchers retrospectively analyzed data from a Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia between 2013 and 2014.
For a number of cities in United States of America that will see rise in temperature and humidity levels in summer, the conditions will become favourable for a Zika virus outbreak, warns new research.
Zika increases the risk of microcephaly – an otherwise rare condition that results in an abnormally small head – by fifty-fold, the researchers calculated.
In addition to congenital microcephaly, Zika virus may cause miscarriages, and other adverse fetal outcomes. She had recently traveled to an area where the virus is prevalent, though further details on where in the county the woman resides or where she traveled, are being withheld to protect her identity.
On it’s own, Zika is fairly benign, like a bad cold or a mild flu.
The analysis was based on data from an outbreak of Zika infections in French Polynesia, a group of islands in the South Pacific. In many cases, people don’t even know they have it. The statement also said that woman was diagnosed with the virus on Monday and is still in the hospital with no symptoms of the virus. However, the Zika virus is not known to spread through casual contact, so the public at large is at extremely low risk of transmission.
Dengue, along with the chikungunya virus, are carried by the same family of mosquitos that spread Zika.
All four of the previous cases occurred in people who contracted Zika in Venezuela.
Advertisement
Dr Derek Gatherer, a lecturer in biomedical and life sciences at Lancaster University, said the study helped scientists begin to think about defining a risk period during pregnancy, with major implications likely for travel advice for pregnant women travelling to affected areas.
