Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
New link between Zika virus and microcephaly is found in Brazil
February 4, 2016
RECIFE, Brazil — Researchers in the state of Pernambuco, home to a third of Brazil’s suspected cases of infant microcephaly, said on Wednesday that they have identified some of the clearest evidence yet of a direct link between the debilitating birth defect and the Zika virus.
Researchers here tested the spinal fluid of 12 babies with microcephaly, all of whom were born to mothers who reported having symptoms of Zika early in their pregnancies. In all 12 cases, the researchers found evidence of Zika — results they described as stunning.
“I was so surprised,” said Marli Ten?rio, an infectious disease expert at the Aggeu Magalh?es Research Center. “Everybody wants to say, ‘It’s not Zika, it’s not Zika.’ I saw this and thought, ‘Wow, it’s Zika!’”
In a press conference at the Pernambuco Health Department, Secretary of Vigilance and Health Luciana Albuquerque cautioned that “this is not a scientific study,” noting that the results do not indicate a definitive causal link. “But it’s a very important suggestion of the link,” she said.
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February 4, 2016
RECIFE, Brazil — Researchers in the state of Pernambuco, home to a third of Brazil’s suspected cases of infant microcephaly, said on Wednesday that they have identified some of the clearest evidence yet of a direct link between the debilitating birth defect and the Zika virus.
Researchers here tested the spinal fluid of 12 babies with microcephaly, all of whom were born to mothers who reported having symptoms of Zika early in their pregnancies. In all 12 cases, the researchers found evidence of Zika — results they described as stunning.
“I was so surprised,” said Marli Ten?rio, an infectious disease expert at the Aggeu Magalh?es Research Center. “Everybody wants to say, ‘It’s not Zika, it’s not Zika.’ I saw this and thought, ‘Wow, it’s Zika!’”
In a press conference at the Pernambuco Health Department, Secretary of Vigilance and Health Luciana Albuquerque cautioned that “this is not a scientific study,” noting that the results do not indicate a definitive causal link. “But it’s a very important suggestion of the link,” she said.
READ MORE
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