This appears to be the first US case of a baby born
with microcephaly, a condition in which the brain is abnormally small, after having a Zika infection.
After taking samples and conducting brain scans, the researchers found that 41 percent of mothers of babies
with microcephaly tested positive for Zika infection in blood or cerebrospinal fluid samples, compared with none of those whose babies did not have microcephaly.
It covered all babies born
with microcephaly delivered in eight public hospitals in Brazil's north - eastern Pernambuco State between January 15 and May 2 this year.
The number of babies born
with microcephaly in northeast Brazil, the country hardest hit by the Zika outbreak, has increased about 40-fold from baseline levels in the last six months, according to reports from Brazil's Ministry of Health.
There's still a lot that we don't know about Zika, including whether or not it's definitively the cause of infants being born
with microcephaly or other neurological problems.
Babies
with microcephaly have unusually small heads.
In a study conducted in Brazil, 70 infants
with microcephaly were examined at CAVIVER, a nongovernmental organization clinic and referral center dedicated to visually disabled children in Fortaleza.
A 2006 study of 77 pregnant women infected with West Nile virus reported that two had infants
with microcephaly, the birth defect lately associated with Zika that results in unusually small and damaged brains.
In 2016, Colombia saw a surge in babies
with microcephaly — more than four times the number reported in the previous year.
The mice are born
with microcephaly, a characteristic feature of Seckel Syndrome.
Last year, however, concerns about the virus skyrocketed following the link between Zika virus infection
with microcephaly in Brazil.
Babies born
with microcephaly may not develop normally, leaving them severely disabled.
Stella Guerra performs physical therapy on an infant born
with microcephaly in Recife, Brazil.
In Brazil, thousands of babies have been born
with microcephaly after their mothers were infected with Zika virus.
People
with microcephaly are usually cognitively impaired to varying degrees.
An association between Zika infections during pregnancy and the birth of babies
with microcephaly (a birth defect in which an infant's brain does not develop properly resulting in a smaller than normal head) was first suggested by Brazilian physicians in August 2015, and in November microcephaly cases potentially associated with Zika started to be recorded; three months later WHO made its announcement.
The finding of virus in the brain could also be important, since the most devastating impact of the current outbreak in Brazil appears to be children of infected mothers born
with microcephaly — abnormally small heads and, in some cases, incomplete brain development.
The babies of women infected early in pregnancy have been born
with microcephaly and other birth defects; a recent World Health Organization estimate suggests there have been 1781 brain - damaged babies born in countries recently infected with the virus.
Zika made international headlines when it was linked to an epidemic of babies born
with microcephaly in Brazil.
«As we learn more about the consequences of Zika infection, including the recent revelation that babies of Zika - infected mothers who had normal head sizes at birth have been diagnosed
with microcephaly months later, it is vital that we know this enemy and remain vigilant in protecting ourselves,» Diaz concludes.
Children
with microcephaly frequently have developmental delays, learning disabilities, impaired motor function, and seizures.
The virus has been found in the amniotic fluid of two fetuses diagnosed
with microcephaly via ultrasound.
It has also been found in tissues of a baby
with microcephaly that died shortly after birth.
Even as the Zika virus becomes more prevalent — the Centers for Disease Control reports that the number of U.S. infants born
with microcephaly and other birth defects is 20 times over the normal rate — researchers are still trying to fully pin down the identifying consequences of the viral infection.
Jacob believes LB1 was a pygmy Homo sapiens afflicted
with microcephaly, a genetic disorder that causes small, abnormally shaped skulls.
Data from the Brazilian metropolis have confirmed this suspicion and, together with other studies, enable the researchers to estimate the absolute risk of microcephaly upon infection of the mother during pregnancy: approximately one out of 100 mothers infected during early pregnancy will bear a child
with microcephaly.
«The increased number of newborns
with microcephaly observed during the Zika outbreak in Brazil is linked to Zika infection of the mother during early pregnancy,» explains Drexler.
The money would be a 1 - year increase to bolster health services for at - risk or infected pregnant women and babies born
with microcephaly.
In another paper, published yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers from Brazil and the United States report that Zika virus was present in brain tissue from two newborns in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte who were born
with microcephaly and died a few hours after birth.
The African strain has one pattern, whereas the Puerto Rican strain, which is closely related to the Brazilian strain that is associated
with microcephaly, has another.
In the cells of babies
with microcephaly, three genes known to be involved in neural development were less active.
Espinal detailed several studies underway, including a study in Brazil that will reveal information in April about children
with microcephaly in the state of Pernambuco and cohort studies in Colombia are currently following 2,000 pregnant women infected with Zika virus.
Since 2016 thousands of children across South America have been born
with microcephaly, which causes abnormally small heads, after their mothers became infected with the Zika virus during pregnancy.
We next estimated the maximum number of births potentially affected by ZIKV in Latin America, as this region is the focus of the recent outbreak and the first to point to a possible association
with microcephaly in newborn infants to mothers infected with ZIKV.
The mice are born
with microcephaly, a characteristic feature of Seckel Syndrome (Image: Berta Terré, IRB Barcelona)
The studies add to the understanding of how the virus appears to be linked to the thousands of babies in Brazil who are being born
with microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormally small head and that appear to be accompanied by brain defects in many cases related to Zika.
In November, Brazilian researchers detected the Zika virus genome in amniotic fluid samples from two women whose fetuses were been diagnosed
with microcephaly by ultrasound exams, the Pan American Health Organization reported.
The 3 largest case series of infants
with microcephaly also reporting congenital contractures found that, among 35, 48, and 52 infants
with microcephaly and presumed congenital ZIKV infection, isolated clubfoot occurred in 14 %, 10.4 %, and 3.8 % and arthrogryposis in 11 %, 10.4 %, and 5.7 %, respectively.36 - 38 Among a series of 104 infants under clinical investigation, 7 (6.7 %) with presumed (5 infants) and laboratory - confirmed (2 infants) congenital ZIKV infection had arthrogryposis; 6 of these infants had a head circumference of at least 2 SD below the mean.41 All had bilateral congenital hip dislocation, which previously has been reported to occur in 30 % to 40 % of children with arthrogryposis of various etiologies and 3 of 7 had dislocation or partial dislocation of 1 or both knees.41, 57
The number of babies born
with microcephaly in 2016 there was four times what it was in 2015.
Structural eye anomalies (in particular, microphthalmia and coloboma), cataracts, intraocular calcifications, and posterior ocular findings have been reported in infants with presumed and laboratory - confirmed prenatal ZIKV infection; however, posterior findings have been the most prevalent.21,25,28,33,35,36,41 - 43 Case series report chorioretinal atrophy, focal pigmentary mottling of the retina, and optic nerve atrophy / anomalies.28, 34,37,41 - 43,55 Series of 20 or more infants with presumed ZIKV - associated microcephaly report ocular findings in 24 % to 55 %.28, 33,42 In one study, testing for ZIKV IgM was performed in 24 of 40 infants (60 %)
with microcephaly and the results were positive in the cerebrospinal fluid in 100 % of those tested.42 The proportion of infants with ocular lesions did not differ in those with and without testing.42 In that series, first trimester maternal infection and smaller head circumference significantly correlated with the presence of abnormal ocular findings.42
When created from the stem cells of a patient
with microcephaly, the brains - in - a-dish resembled that often - fatal condition; those created from cells of patients with severe autism indicated that out - of - control neuron growth is the underlying cause of that disorder.
Recife is experiencing an outbreak of ZIKV infection as well as an increase in the number of newborns
with microcephaly.
In some Brazilian states where Zika virus has been circulating in recent months, there has been a marked increase in cases of newborns
with microcephaly.
Objective To evaluate the ocular findings in infants
with microcephaly associated with presumed intrauterine ZIKV infection in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
To evaluate the ocular findings in infants
with microcephaly associated with presumed intrauterine ZIKV infection in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
The authors note their findings could downplay the frequency in which hearing loss occurs in children infected with Zika in the womb because they only tested children
with microcephaly, which is characterized by an abnormally small head and in some cases brain damage.
Zecavati is a pediatric neurologist who treats children
with microcephaly and can describe the neurologic signs and symptoms associated
with microcephaly, including the various causes of microcephaly and how microcephaly affects a child's development and cognitive abilities.
In fact, one family with a congenital mutation in the Musashi - 1 gene has two children
with microcephaly, the researchers point out, adding further evidence that this protein is key to normal brain development.
Results: Here, we report six patients
with microcephaly, facial dysmorphism, including exophthalmos, nevus flammeus of the glabella and joint contractures with a suspected BOS posture in five out of six patients.
The central nervous system damage seen with prenatal ZIKV infection is likely due to direct cellular injury, as ZIKV RNA15, 17,32 and live virus15 have been identified in the brain tissue of infants
with microcephaly.