The Ministry of Health has begun to prepare for the possibility of babies being born with microcephaly arising from mothers being infected with the Zika virus (ZIKV) during pregnancy.
Microcephaly is a birth defect in which a baby is born with a small head.
These babes can also develop mental conditions that can impair their development.
Director of Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services in the Ministry, Dr Melody Ennis, says the health ministry, as part of its response to ZIKV, is turning its attention to looking at measures to treat children with microcephaly in the event the country records such a cases.
Ennis says the response programme would also look at providing psycho-social support to families with a baby affected by the condition.
Director, Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services in the Health Ministry, Dr Melody Ennis
She was speaking today at a press conference and prayer breakfast for the launch of Disaster Preparedness Month 2016.
There have been reports of a suspected case of a pregnant woman being diagnosed with the Zika virus, but the health ministry has declined to comment on the matter.
The ministry has since called a press conference for tomorrow on ZIKV to update the country.
Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, told our news centre that the number of ZIKV cases has increased to 15.
First Baby With Zika-Related Microcephaly Born in Continental U.S.
Zika is beyond a doubt scariest for pregnant women, or for women trying to get pregnant. For women living in areas where the mosquito-borne virus is spreading, who are trying to make the huge decision of whether, and when, to have a child, theres not a lot to go on. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that women whove gotten Zika should wait at least eight weeks to conceive, and that men whove gotten it should wait at least six months.
But the vast majority of people who are infected with Zika dont show any symptoms, and children can still be born with birth defects and mothers can still miscarry, even if they never had symptoms. So its possible that microcephalya birth defect caused by Zika that leads to smaller-than-average head size and other developmental problemscould sneak up on parents who never knew one of them had Zika in the first place.
Margaret Chan, the director of the World Health Organization, summed up the harsh reality of the situation in her recent address to the 69th World Health Assembly: To protect women of childbearing age, all we can offer is advice. Avoid mosquito bites. Delay pregnancy. Do not travel to areas with ongoing transmission.
If a woman is infected in her first trimester, there is between a 1 and 13 percent chance of her fetus developing microcephaly.
This is not the most reassuring advice. But a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine estimates how likely it is that the fetus of a woman infected with Zika would develop microcephaly, offering would-be parents at least some idea of the risk theyd be taking on.
Analyzing current outbreak data from the Brazilian state of Bahia, researchers from the CDC calculated that if a woman is infected in her first trimester, there is between a 1 and 13 percent chance of her fetus developing microcephaly.
Related Stories
Thats a big range! We have Zikas stealthy nature to thank for that. The first number is based on the assumption that the Zika infection rate in Bahias population is 80 percent and that half the cases of microcephaly reported are false. The second presumes a 10 percent infection rate and that every case reported is true. Theres probably been at least some overreporting of microcephaly in Brazil, and since many people dont show symptoms and dont get tested, the actual infection rate is hard to pin down. So we dont know where in that range the truth lies.
A previous analysis of the 2013-2014 Zika outbreak in French Polynesia found about a 1 percent riskbut the microcephaly cases there were found retrospectively, so that might be on the low side.
Some important caveatsthis study only looked at first-trimester infection, and infection at all stages of pregnancy has been associated with fetal abnormalities and other pregnancy problems. And it also only looked at microcephaly specifically. Microcephaly is only one possible adverse outcome among a spectrum of conditions that may be part of congenital Zika syndrome, the researchers write.
Still, at least we now have a risk estimate to offer women, along with advice.
First Baby With Zika-Related Microcephaly Born in Continental U.S.
Zika is beyond a doubt scariest for pregnant women, or for women trying to get pregnant. For women living in areas where the mosquito-borne virus is spreading, who are trying to make the huge decision of whether, and when, to have a child, theres not a lot to go on. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that women whove gotten Zika should wait at least eight weeks to conceive, and that men whove gotten it should wait at least six months.
But the vast majority of people who are infected with Zika dont show any symptoms, and children can still be born with birth defects and mothers can still miscarry, even if they never had symptoms. So its possible that microcephalya birth defect caused by Zika that leads to smaller-than-average head size and other developmental problemscould sneak up on parents who never knew one of them had Zika in the first place.
Margaret Chan, the director of the World Health Organization, summed up the harsh reality of the situation in her recent address to the 69th World Health Assembly: To protect women of childbearing age, all we can offer is advice. Avoid mosquito bites. Delay pregnancy. Do not travel to areas with ongoing transmission.
If a woman is infected in her first trimester, there is between a 1 and 13 percent chance of her fetus developing microcephaly.
This is not the most reassuring advice. But a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine estimates how likely it is that the fetus of a woman infected with Zika would develop microcephaly, offering would-be parents at least some idea of the risk theyd be taking on.
Analyzing current outbreak data from the Brazilian state of Bahia, researchers from the CDC calculated that if a woman is infected in her first trimester, there is between a 1 and 13 percent chance of her fetus developing microcephaly.
Related Stories
Thats a big range! We have Zikas stealthy nature to thank for that. The first number is based on the assumption that the Zika infection rate in Bahias population is 80 percent and that half the cases of microcephaly reported are false. The second presumes a 10 percent infection rate and that every case reported is true. Theres probably been at least some overreporting of microcephaly in Brazil, and since many people dont show symptoms and dont get tested, the actual infection rate is hard to pin down. So we dont know where in that range the truth lies.
A previous analysis of the 2013-2014 Zika outbreak in French Polynesia found about a 1 percent riskbut the microcephaly cases there were found retrospectively, so that might be on the low side.
Some important caveatsthis study only looked at first-trimester infection, and infection at all stages of pregnancy has been associated with fetal abnormalities and other pregnancy problems. And it also only looked at microcephaly specifically. Microcephaly is only one possible adverse outcome among a spectrum of conditions that may be part of congenital Zika syndrome, the researchers write.
Still, at least we now have a risk estimate to offer women, along with advice.
Doctors Name MONSANTO Larvicide As Cause of Brazilian Microcephaly Outbreak
(CNN) - A baby with Zika virus-related microcephaly was born in New Jersey on Tuesday, hospital officials said.
The baby and mother are stable and doing well following the cesarean delivery, said Dr. Abdulla Al-Kahan, director of maternal and fetal medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center.
"The mother is stable, obviously sad, which is the normal emotional reaction given the situation," he said.
The mother is visiting the United States from Honduras and does not want to be identified.
Doctors first examined her when she came to the medical center Friday. Ultrasound screening revealed the baby had "significant microcephaly," including calcification and dilated ventricles of the brain, according to Al-Kahan.
Tests were done to rule out other causes of these abnormalities.
"When I saw her today, I was pretty much convinced this was a Zika-affected baby," he said.
The mother traveled to the United States from Honduras in hopes of receiving better medical care because she knew her baby may have Zika-related problems, according to Al-Kahan.
Doctors believe she was infected during the second trimester of her pregnancy. She experienced a fever and rash, both symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which is known to cause the devastating birth defect microcephaly and other neurological disorders.
"When she developed the symptoms, she was seen by an OBGYN who suspected the baby was growth restricted," he said.
Doctors there coordinated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to test the woman for the Zika virus.
The samples were sent to the CDC and results confirming the diagnosis of the virus came back Tuesday, according to Al-Kahan. However, he said, that was not a factor in her having the C-section.
The mother was close to full-term in her pregnancy.
"There were a few reasons the baby needed to be delivered today, including low amniotic fluid," he said.
Al-Kahan said such babies have "tremendous neurological problems," and most don"t do well.
In January, health officials confirmed that a baby with severe microcephaly was born in Hawaii to a woman who had become infected with the Zika virus while living in Brazil.
Earlier this month, Puerto Rico health officials confirmed their first case of a fetus with severe microcephaly linked to local transmission of the virus.
Al-Kahan said this is believed to be the third case of a baby born with Zika-related microcephaly in the United States, but the first in the northeast. He said there was also a baby born in the south but he did not know details about the case.
There are more than 300 pregnant women with the virus in the United States and its territories who are being followed as part of a national registry.
Information on the outcomes or stages of these pregnancies has not been released. In February, the CDC released a report detailing the first nine pregnancies among Zika-infected women in the United States.
