Suspect Zika Linked Microcephaly In Honduras

[niman]

Mon May 9, 2016 11:55pm BST

Related: HEALTH

Honduras suspects first case of microcephaly in pregnant Zika patient

 

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The Central American nation of Honduras "strongly suspects" it has detected its first case of an unborn child with microcephaly in a pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus, the country's deputy health minister Francis Contreras said on Monday.

The mother is five months pregnant, and Contreras warned it would not be certain her child had developed microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies, until she gave birth.

"We strongly suspect that we could be facing a case of microcephaly," Contreras told local radio.

U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly. The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.

The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last autumn in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,100 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans. A small number of cases of sexual transmission have been reported in the United States and elsewhere. A case of suspected transmission through a blood transfusion in Brazil have raised questions about other ways that Zika may spread.

The Zika outbreak is affecting large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, with Brazil the hardest hit so far.

Honduras is the Central American country with the highest number of Zika cases, with 19,000 infections, and 238 pregnant women infected. So far, it has detected 78 Guillain-Barre cases.

In Panama, where there are 264 people infected with the Zika virus, at least four babies have been born with microcephaly whose mothers were infected with Zika.

 

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Bill Rigby)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-honduras-idUKKCN0Y02L1

 

[niman]

Microcephaly first case investigated by zika in Honduras
MAY 9, 2016 - 24:23

The Health Ministry is investigating the case of a pregnant woman whose baby could present the first case would microcephaly associated with the Zika virus.

Deputy Health Minister, Francis Contreras said that "we are currently not able to secure 100 percent since prenatal diagnosis ends up being different from post-natal diagnosis."

Contreras explained that in Brazil several cases of pregnant women report microcephaly, whom he underwent several ultrasounds during gestation period presented.

"But at the moment of birth, head circumference was below normal levels, but did not reach microcephaly."

A woman will have been several ultrasounds in which doctors have detected abnormalities in the fetus.

The official said the woman is a resident of Tegucigalpa and has more than five months pregnant, but did not disclose further details to protect the identity of the mother.

"We are monitoring the health of both mother and baby, we expect negative result, but we have a strong suspicion, which could be a case of microcephaly" expanded Contreras.

However, he stressed that both the woman and the baby are getting all the necessary care and it is expected that this is not a case microcephaly.

http://www.latribuna.hn/2016/05/09/investigan-primer-caso-microcefalia-zika-honduras/

 

[niman]

About forty babies at risk of being born with microcephaly

The danger increases if women acquire the virus in its first quarter zika

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Women who are pregnant should not miss appointments for any reason, authorities say.

04/14/2016

Tegucigalpa, Honduras
About forty young who are still in the womb could be affected with microcephaly.

In the country there are 219 pregnant women who have or had the virus zika in the first trimester of pregnancy.

The dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) , Marco Tulio Medina says that this is the time for women to consider family planning to prevent pregnancy.

"There are several studies that have found the increased risk of the presence of congenital malformations associated virus zika, especially the brain. One says there is a risk that 20% of women who had zika in the first quarter may give birth to a child with microcephaly, "said neurologist.

It is noteworthy that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States on Wednesday confirmed the link between the virus and birth defects zika as microcephaly.

According to Medina, the risk of a baby being born with the disease decreases if the mother was infected after three months of gestation.

No guard down
President Juan Orlando Hernández urged this week to all Hondurans to remain vigilant against the disease precisely because that relationship with congenital disease.

"Do not lose heart; will continue, we raise the tone even more to this campaign, because we did not want it confirmed it is practically confirmed, which is the zika relationship with microcephaly, blind, with other difficult consequences, "he said.

Microcephaly is a neurological disorder in which the circumference of the head is smaller than the average circumference for the child's age. So far the country has not registered any cases of microcephaly associated with the disease. One would appear from July, as indicated.

http://www.elheraldo.hn/pais/950195-466/unos-cuarenta-bebés-en-riesgo-de-nacer-con-microcefalia