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Added on the 25/01/2018 15:48:59 - Copyright : Wochit
The first case of locally acquired Zika virus within a pregnant United States woman has not resulted in devastating birth defects, doctors report. In a case study from the University of Miami, doctors offered new insight into the mosquito-borne virus, showing fetal exposure doesn't necessarily mean infection. The report also alerts doctors to suspect Zika in patients who may have traveled to south Florida, not just to areas outside the country where the virus is more prevalent. The infant -- born full-term in October -- showed no signs of the devastating birth defects linked to Zika.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its travel warning to another eight countries or territories that pose a risk of infection with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Caribbean and Latin America. warning adds Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Cape Verde, Samoa and the island of Saint Martin to a list of 14 countries and territories. The CDC has cautioned pregnant women not to travel to these areas as Zika has been suspected to lead to birth defects. The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry the dengue, yellow fever and Chikungunya viruses.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its travel warning to another eight countries or territories that pose a risk of infection with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Caribbean and Latin America. warning adds Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Cape Verde, Samoa and the island of Saint Martin to a list of 14 countries and territories. The CDC has cautioned pregnant women not to travel to these areas as Zika has been suspected to lead to birth defects. The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry the dengue, yellow fever and Chikungunya viruses.
The World Health Organization suggests that women who live in areas where Zika is spreading should consider delaying pregnancy, since there's no way to ensue avoiding the virus' devastating birth defects. The virus is spreading quickly throughout the Carribbean and Latin America. While the virus only causes mild, short-lived effects in most people, it can cause fatal damage to the babies of pregnant women. There's currently no vaccine. The only preventative measure is to try and avoid mosquito bites. As mosquito season heats up WHO and CDC health officials expect the virus to hit clusters of the mainland U.S. as well.
The White House and Democrats are pressuring congressional Republicans to act on President Barack Obama's demands for money to combat Zika, but even the onset of mosquito season that probably will spread the virus has failed to create a sense of urgency. Republicans from states at greatest risk, such as Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia, have been slow to endorse Obama's more than 2-month-old request for $1.9 billion to battle the virus, which causes grave birth defects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently reports more than 470 cases in the continental U.S., all so far associated with travel to Zika-affected areas. Polls show that the public isn't anywhere nearly as scared of Zika as it was about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the handful of cases in the U.S. in 2014. Aides to GOP lawmakers, even those representing Southern areas most vulnerable to Zika, say they've yet to hear from many anxious constituents, though they said this could change
Certain birth defects were 20 times more prevalent in babies born to Zika virus–infected mothers in the U.S. in 2016 than they were before the virus cropped up in the United States, a CDC study suggests. The finding strengthens the evidence that a mother’s Zika infection during pregnancy raises her baby’s risk of microcephaly and other brain malformations. The study examined data collected through birth defect surveillance programs in several states in 2013 and 2014.
A new article published on upi.com reveals the Zika virus and it's effect specifically on the brains of infants could be more powerful than previously suggested. Two new studies uncovered details on the impact of Zika. One study found that nearly 6% of infants born in the U.S. with the virus presented with one or more birth defects. Another study done in Brazil revealed 46 percent of babies born with Zika there, developed birth defects or even worse died. As for the babies born in the U.S. the presence of additional birth defects often times continued to surface for children up until age 1.
New data from Rio de Janiero, Brazil, suggest that nearly half of women infected with Zika virus during pregnancy experience a serious complication, whether a miscarriage or significant birth defect, in their baby. The data are the first to quantify the risks to women infected at different times during pregnancy, and they seem to confirm that they are highest early in pregnancy. But the study also finds significant problems among women infected just a few weeks before giving birth.
A new report has found that the heartbreak of hundreds of babies born with terrible birth defects linked to the Zika virus is no longer confined to Brazil. A surge of cases of infant microcephaly is occurring in Colombia, as well. A team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that between Jan. 31, 2016 and mid-November 2016, there were 476 cases of microcephaly in Colombia. Researchers said There were nine times as many cases of microcephaly in July 2016 than in July 2015.
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