Contracted Zika-Virus in Honduras: Infected Mom Gives Birth to Baby with Apparent Microcephaly Defect
A Honduran woman from New Jersey has given birth to a child who is now the second confirmed case of birth defects caused by the Zika virus in the United States.
On May 31, the child was delivered by cesarean section at Hackensack University Medical Center and was born with birth defects caused by microcephaly, which means that the child has a smaller head because the brain hasn't fully developed.
The child was also born weighing less than six pounds and also suffers from severe visual and intestinal issues.
While Dr. Abdulla Al-Kahn, who is the head of maternal and fetal medicine at Hackensack, explains that the Zika infection is short term and completely treatable. However, with pregnancy that changes.
“The biggest problem is an acute infection during a certain point in pregnancy. Is it in the first, second or third trimester? We don’t know exactly," said Al-Kahn.
There has only been one confirmed case of a baby being born with microcephaly in the United States and that was in Hawaii early in 2016.
The mother, who is believed to have contracted the virus while in Honduras, moved to New Jersey with family to seek better medical care and was devastated by the news.
All the cases of Zika in the United States have all been contracted abroad and not here in the United States which is why pregnant women have been discouraged by the CDC to travel to any one of the ten countries with reported cases.
The virus can be contracted through mosquito bites and can also be sexually transmitted.
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