Zika-affected babies suffer ‘severe’ brain damage
EXPERTS have found “extremely severe” brain damage in babies born with a defect presumed to have been caused by the Zika virus.
Doctors in Brazil have mapped out the largest set of brain scans of children with microcephaly, which was presumably caused by mothers becoming infected with the virus while pregnant.
They examined 23 youngsters and found “severe cerebral damage”, indicating a “poor prognosis for neurological function”.
Microcephaly is a rare birth defect where a baby is born with an unusually small head.
Since October last year there has been a significant increase in the number of cases of microcephaly among babies born in Brazil, which has led to scientists linking the condition with the virus.
In February, the World Health Organisation said the link between microcephaly in babies born to infected mothers should be considered a “public health emergency of international concern”.
The new study, published in The British Medical Journal, describes a range of brain abnormalities found in babies with microcephaly born in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco between July and December 2015.
All but one of the babies were born to mothers who had a rash during pregnancy, consistent with a Zika infection. Other infectious causes of microcephaly, such as toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, rubella, syphilis, and HIV, were ruled out.
The team, led by Professor Maria de Fatima Vasco Aragao, analysed the types of abnormalities and lesions shown in brain scans of the children. The scans revealed the majority of babies had severe brain damage.