New fear of damage to unborn babies

Zika infection may have lifethreatening effects on unborn babies that are not just confined to the brain, a study has found.

In January a young Brazilian woman had a stillborn baby girl with the characteristic small head associated with the virus as well as signs of severe neurological damage.

But doctors also identified symptoms of a potentially fatal foetal disorder called hydrops fetalis that causes tissues to fill with fluid.

Only one such case has been reported so far, but the details are worrying enough to prompt a new Zika warning.

Dr Albert Ko, from the Yale School of Public Health in the US, who led the investigation team, said: “These findings raise concerns that the virus may cause severe damage to foetuses, leading to stillbirths, and may be associated with effects other than those seen in the central nervous system.

“Additional work is needed to understand if this is an isolated finding and to confirm whether Zika virus can actually cause hydrops fetalis.”

The new case is reported in the journal Public Library of Science Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The Zika scare began in Brazil last November when an outbreak of infections by the virus coincided with a large increase in numbers of babies born with microcephaly.

Zika has now spread rapidly across more than 20 countries in the Americas, and US officials are investigating 14 possible cases of sexual transmission of the virus. It is normally transmitted through bites by the Aedes mosquito.