Microcephaly and It's Effect on Baby's Development
Pregnant women are now required to think twice before traveling to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the increase in zika's cases and its relationship with a microcephaly, its a rare condition, but fatal because it causes the brain to shrink the unborn baby
The virus has now declared zika has become widespread in the United States by the number of people infected between 3-4 million residents during the past 12 months, said the head of the World Health Organization
"Zika should get a high level of vigilance," Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO told the executive board members of other organizations.
As many as 80 percent of those infected with the zika virus didn't even feel sick and most have relatively mild symptoms such as fever, rash, joint pain or red eye. But there is great concern about the danger to pregnant women and the unborn baby.
Chan said the zika virus grow inline with highly increase in the number of births of infants with abnormal head or microcephaly.
Dr Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organization warned, there is no definite link between zika and disorder microcephaly, but it still needs to be a concer. Meanwhile, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are allegations of a relationship between zika and microcephaly is strong.
What is microcephaly ?
"Infants with microcephaly have abnormal brain and skull are small for their age, in the womb until the moment of birth, with varying degrees of brain damage in effect. This condition can be caused by several factors: infections, viruses, toxins or genetic factors are unknown," Jean-Francois Delfraissy of France's Inserm Medical Research Institute.
What are the effects for the baby ?
"In serious cases, microcephaly can cause premature death. If the brain isn't or doesn't develop, the body can't function properly. In French Polynesia (one of the affected areas), this defect causes most babies are stillborn," Andre Cabie, head of the handling of infectious diseases at the University Hospital of Martinique.
"For children who survive with microcephaly, it's possible to have a bleak future. In the worst cases, children will experience disruptions in thinking and physical disabilities. There is a chance the child will struggle with psychomotor disorder, characterized by slowness of thought, speech, and physical movement," Jean-Francois Delfraissy of France's Inserm Medical Research Institute.
How does the virus affect the growth of the infants ?
"Many types of viral infections, such as rubella or cytomegalovirus, which can cause physical disability and intellectual deficiency in the infants, especially during the first three months of pregnancy, when the vital organs are being formed. The virus spread through the placenta and infect the infants drectly, including on the part of the brain," said Jean.
Why microcephaly allegedly associated with zika virus ?
"Microcephaly case seems to have increased in the outbreak of zika's zone. The virus has also been detected in infants born to die with microcephaly or in the amniotic fluid. The relationship between zika and microcephaly very likely, but not yet scientifically proven," said Jean.
"The study was conductued to better understand how the virus can affect the infants. The difficulty is that people who are infected usually have no symptoms. A pregnant woman may be infected without knowing it. On the other hand, some cases are also being observed in pregnant women with zika but their children are not exposed to microcephaly," Andre Cabie, head of the handling of infectious diseases at the University Hospital of Martinique.
Do zika transmitted from person to person ?
"There have been cases of sexual transmission, and the theoretical possibility of transmission through a transplant of transfusion can't be ruled out. The main pathway of infection is through a mosquito," Alain Kohl from the University of Glasgow's Centre for Virus Research.
