Maria G. Teixeira, Maria da Conceição N. Costa, Wanderson K. de Oliveira, Marilia Lavocat Nunes, and Laura C. Rodrigues.  The Epidemic of Zika Virus–Related Microcephaly in Brazil: Detection, Control, Etiology, and Future Scenarios. American Journal of Public Health: April 2016, Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 601-605.

doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303113

 

Accepted on: Feb 3, 2016

 

The Epidemic of Zika Virus–Related Microcephaly in Brazil: Detection, Control, Etiology, and Future Scenarios

 

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303113

 

Edited March 10, 201610 yr by niman

Maria G. Teixeira, PhD, Maria da Conceição N. Costa, PhD, Wanderson K. de Oliveira, MD, Marilia Lavocat Nunes, MSc, and Laura C. Rodrigues, PhD

Maria G. Teixeira and Maria da Conceição N. Costa are with Instituto de Saúde Coletiva–Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil. Wanderson Kleber de Oliveira and Marilia Lavocat Nunes are with Ministry of Health, Brasilia, Brazil. Laura C. Rodrigues is with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England.

Correspondence should be sent to Laura Rodrigues, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Keppel St, London WC1E 7HT, England (e-mail: laura.rodrigues@lshtm.ac.uk). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link.

CONTRIBUTORS

All authors have seen and approved the content and have contributed significantly to the work. M. G. Teixeira, L. C. Rodrigues, and M. C. N. Costa wrote the first draft of the article and all authors read and contributed to successive drafts before approving the final version.

Peer Reviewed

Read More: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303113

ABSTRACT

 

We describe the epidemic of microcephaly in Brazil, its detection and attempts to control it, the suspected causal link with Zika virus infection during pregnancy, and possible scenarios for the future. In October 2015, in Pernambuco, Brazil, an increase in the number of newborns with microcephaly was reported. Mothers of the affected newborns reported rashes during pregnancy and no exposure to other potentially teratogenic agents. Women delivering in October would have been in the first trimester of pregnancy during the peak of a Zika epidemic in March. By the end of 2015, 4180 cases of suspected microcephaly had been reported. Zika spread to other American countries and, in February 2016, the World Health Organization declared the Zika epidemic a public health emergency of international concern. This unprecedented situation underscores the urgent need to establish the evidence of congenital infection risk by gestational week and accrue knowledge. There is an urgent call for a Zika vaccine, better diagnostic tests, effective treatment, and improved mosquito-control methods.

Read More: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303113