How does the Zika virus affect pregnant women?
The Zika virus is creating alarm throughout Latin America, among its consequences is the risk of birth of babies with microcephaly.
The Latin American world is on alert for the rapid expansion of the Zika virus. Transmitted by a specific type of mosquito, the Aedes aegypti, and presenting mild symptoms, this disease can have very serious consequences if a pregnant woman becomes infected.
We tell you what Zika is , why it is spreading at high speed and how it affects pregnant women.
Index
WHAT IS THE ZIKA VIRUS?
Zika is a virus that was discovered in the mid-20th century in Uganda. It is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which when it bites a person with Zika, becomes infected and transmits this disease to other people it attacks. In mid-2015, an increase in cases began to be registered in Brazil, and now, half a year later, it has already spread to around twenty Latin American countries.
The symptoms of Zika are mild, and go through low fevers (less than 39 degrees Celsius) and a skin rash , although it is also usually accompanied by joint pain, conjunctivitis and fatigue. These symptoms last between 2 and 7 days and, although it seems a mild condition and few cases of complications have been seen, it can lead to two problems: on the one hand, Guillain-Barré syndrome , an autoimmune disorder that causes paralysis, and, on the other, microcephaly in babies born to pregnant women who have been infected with Zika.
Medical studies have observed an increase in cases of microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barré syndrome since the outbreak in Brazil, although it has not yet been possible to determine what this relationship is like.
HOW DOES THE ZIKA VIRUS AFFECT PREGNANT WOMEN?
Although pregnant women have the same risk of contagion as the rest of the population, its consequences irreversibly affect the baby. Research has shown that there is an increased risk of microcephaly in the baby if the infection occurs during the first trimester of pregnancy.
It is also studying whether the virus can be transmitted from the mother to the fetus, since other viruses that are also spread by this type of mosquito, such as dengue and chikungunya, are transmitted to the fetus.
WHAT IS CONGENITAL MICROCEPHALY?
Congenital microcephaly is a type of malformation that babies have at birth. It is not a disease in itself, but a condition with which the child is born, and it consists in that the diameter of his skull is smaller than normal for his age. If a baby is normal to have a measurement of 34 to 37 centimeters in circumference, it would be called microcephaly if this figure is 33 centimeters or less . This type of malformation is considered rare, occurring in 1 case per 6,200 to 8,500. However, until the end of January 2016, Brazil has already registered about 4,000 cases of births with microcephaly.
This causes that the brain cannot develop normally, since it does not have space, so it grows in a disorganized way . Thus, these children have a delay in physical or cognitive development, and will develop problems associated with the areas of the brain that have the greatest difficulty for normal functioning, such as vision, motor, or speech disorders.
In addition to a smaller skull, microcephaly has other symptoms, such as constant crying, spasms and seizures, and insufficient nutrition.
HOW CAN PREGNANT WOMEN BE PROTECTED FROM THE ZIKA VIRUS?
The health authorities of the areas affected by the Zika virus recommend that pregnant women take extreme precautions, which are the same as for the rest of the population:
– Wear long-sleeved clothing and caps or hats to protect the skin from bites.
– Use mosquito repellants. Unfortunately, repellent cans have a fairly high economic cost for people living in the poorest areas, so they are victims of the virus and the inability to protect themselves properly.
– Sleeping with mosquito nets.
– Protect doors and windows with mosquito nets or other types of barriers to prevent mosquitoes from entering homes.
– Frequently clean and empty any container or area in which water accumulates , since the Aedes aegypti mosquito tends to breed in stagnant water.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.