Zika test for woman negative

Expectant mother bitten while abroad; doctor keeps watch on ultrasounds

SAN ANTONIO — A pregnant San Antonio woman suspected of having been infected with the Zika virus while traveling abroad has l earned her test results were negative, her physician said Friday.

While there i s still a slight chance the expectant mother could have been i nfected, t he l i kel i hood has decreased greatly, said Dr. Kelly Morales, the San Antonio obstetrician-gynecologist who i s treating the patient.

“There’s always t hat very small, remote possibility that (the test results) could be a f alse negative, so she will still have her serial ultrasounds … But our suspicion is obviously signifi- cantly decreased at this point,” Morales said.

The Zika virus, which has spread through Central America and South America, i s particularly risky for pregnant women. Expectant mothers exposed to the illness can pass the virus on to the babies in their wombs.

Infections during pregnancy may be l i nked to severe birth defects in babies, such as microcephaly, which causes inf ants to have small craniums and underdeveloped brains, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Zika virus has just started to show up in the United States. The CDC has reported 82 cases across the country so f ar. In Texas, 12 cases have been confirmed.

Four of five people infected by the virus won’t show symptoms. Those who do exhibit only mild discomfort, such as rash, j oint pain, aching muscles, headache, low-grade fever and red eyes. Those symptoms are usually gone in a week.

People who catch the Zika vir us are usually i nfected when t hey are bitten by mosquitoes carrying the virus.

All of the U.S. patients became i nfected while traveling abroad, except for one in Dallas County who acquired the virus after having sexual contact with a sick person who had t raveled to a country where the Zika virus is present.

Morales said she notified her pregnant patient of her negative test results Thursday.

“She’s actually very happy about it,” Morales said.

The woman recently moved to San Antonio from another state. She was traveling in another country during her first trimester when she suffered mosquito bites and later experienced several symptoms associated with the Zika virus.

She will continue to undergo ultrasounds throughout her pregnancy to monitor her baby’s development. If anything suspicious t urns up on the ultra sounds, the woman will be tested for the virus again, Morales said.