Rate of birth defects in Zika pregnancies 20 times higher than in pre-Zika years, CDC says stat : The Washington Post

This proportion is about 20 times higher than the prevalence of such birth defects during the pre-Zika years. Although a Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to a distinct pattern of birth defects, those abnormalities are not unique to Zika. Genetic factors and other viral infections may also cause these birth defects, although in many cases the causes are unknown, experts say. CDC has awarded more than $27 million to 50 jurisdictions to establish or bolster surveillance systems that rapidly collect information about Zika-related birth defects. Margaret Honein, chief of the birth defects branch at the CDC and an author of the report, said it's too early to give a precise estimate for the additional risk of birth defects from a Zika infection.




This proportion is about 20 times higher than the prevalence of such birth defects during the pre-Zika years. Although a Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to a distinct pattern of birth defects, those abnormalities are not unique to Zika. Genetic factors and other viral infections may also cause these birth defects, although in many cases the causes are unknown, experts say. CDC has awarded more than $27 million to 50 jurisdictions to establish or bolster surveillance systems that rapidly collect information about Zika-related birth defects. AdvertisementThe CDC report provides a baseline reference to interpret the impact of Zika on the prevalence of these birth defects in the United States.


"Pregnant women with possible exposure to Zika virus should be tested for Zika infection even if they do not have symptoms." Zika virus raised the risk of birth defects twentyfold fold among infected U.S. women, federal researchers said Thursday. That works out to a rate of 58 birth defects per 1,000 births, they report in the CDC's weekly report on death and disease. Then they looked at Zika birth defect registries that were started after Zika began arriving in the United States, carried or transmitted by travelers from Zika-affected regions. Mario Tama / Getty ImagesZika is known to cause a range of birth defects if a woman is infected while pregnant.



collected by :Lucy William
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