Parents of newborns who had been exposed to Zika virus in utero may have breathed a sigh of relief when their child was born with normocephaly. An investigation finds that adverse outcomes occurred even in children with normal head size.
During the 2015-2016 Zika epidemic, many seemed to believe that infants who had been exposed to the disease, but had a normal head size may have avoided adverse outcomes. However, an investigation in JAMA Network Open finds that this may not actually be the case.1
Investigators ran a retrospective cohort study from May 2019 to June 2019. The prospective cohort included 296 infants who had antenatal Zika virus exposure and had been followed up since December 2015 at a tertiary maternity-pediatric hospital in Brazil.
Among the 296 children in the cohort, antenatal exposure to Zika virus was confirmed in 219 of the 296 children. Exposure was confirmed through positive maternal or neonatal polymerase chain reaction analysis or IGM serology results. Fifty-three of the children had congenital microcephaly.
Anomalies seen in children exposed to Zika included:
Although fewer neurologic abnormalities were seen among children who were normocephalic than those who had microcephaly, children with normocephaly did have frequent neurologic abnormalities such as abnormal tone, hyperreflexia, feeding difficulties, abnormal brain imaging results, and congenital neuromotor signs. One hundred twelve children with normocephaly had Bayley-III evaluations. In this group, 72 of the children had average or above-average scores; 30 scored 1 standard deviation below average in at least 1 domain; and 10 score 2 standard deviations below average in at least 1 domain.
Reference
1. Cranston JS, Tiene SF, Nielsen-Saines K, et al. Association between antenatal exposure to Zika virus and anatomical and neurodevelopmental abnormalities in children. JAMA Netw Open. 2020:3(7):e209303. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.9303
Having "the talk" with teen patients
June 17th 2022A visit with a pediatric clinician is an ideal time to ensure that a teenager knows the correct information, has the opportunity to make certain contraceptive choices, and instill the knowledge that the pediatric office is a safe place to come for help.