[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Murcia mom gets tested for Zika ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
BACOLOD City – A mother from Murcia, Negros Occidental who recently gave birth to a child with microcephaly was suspected to have Zika.
She got tested. A sample of her blood was sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Metro Manila.
“We are still awaiting the results,” Provincial Health Officer Ernell Tumimbang said.
It may take time, especially since the RITM is flooded with requests for confirmation of Zika virus infection, he said.
Right now “what we have is raw information,” stressed Tumimbang.
The mother gave birth to the child at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital early in September, according to the Provincial Health Office.
“Microcephaly is usually related immediately to Zika,” Tumimbang said.
Zika is a viral disease spread by mosquitoes, specifically Aedes egypti. Its symptoms include skin rashes, fever, redness of the eyes, and joint pains.
The disease is prompting worldwide concern due to its connection with microcephaly and its rapid spread across the world.
Microcephaly is a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
During pregnancy, a baby’s head grows because their brain grows. Microcephaly occurs when a baby’s brain has not developed properly during pregnancy or has stopped growing after birth, said the CDC.
NEW STUDY
In Brazil and several other countries, pregnant women who gave birth to babies with microcephaly were found to have been infected with Zika virus during pregnancy.
But a new Brazilian study suggested the mosquito-borne virus can lead to extensive birth defects that go beyond microcephaly.
Eleven babies diagnosed with Zika were found to have a range of neurological impairments, including small skulls and brains, as well as an underdeveloped cerebellum (the part of the brain responsible for motor skills) and an absence of normal folds in the cerebral cortex (the gray matter that handles memory, language, social skills, and problem solving).
“Microcephaly is not the only thing that happens with fetal Zika infection,” said senior study author Dr. Amilcar Tanuri, a researcher in the laboratory of molecular virology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Zika should be considered a congenital viral disease, like rubella or cytomegalovirus, Tanuri said. “Some babies do not survive and the ones that survive carry several developmental or cognitive delays or deficits.”
OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES
Tumimbang clarified they are not ruling out other causes for the Murcia baby’s birth defect.
“Congenital birth defects secondary to folic acid deficiency will likewise lead to microcephaly and other neurological diseases,” he said.
Negros Occidental and the capital city of Bacolod have no Zika cases yet. In the nearby Iloilo, however, Zika cases have already reached 10: nine in the city and one in the province, the Department of Health said.
Tumimbang urged the public to “initiate self-protection” to avoid Zika.
Use “whatever World Health Organization- or Department of Health-approved lotion [against] the vector (mosquito),” he said. “And avoid places where mosquitoes abound.” (With a report from Reuters/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
