A new study finds that pregnant women infected with Zika virus have one percent chance of giving birth with microcephaly. This further supports claim that Zika virus causes microcephaly to new born babies.
The link between Zika and microcephaly has not been entirely established although there has been a surge of microcephaly cases around areas where Zika virus are present. Now there seems to have a strong statistical to support the claim according to Medical News Daily.
The study published Tuesday in the journal The Lancet used a mathematical and statistical model to determine the risk of microcephaly with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia during the outbreak between October 2013 to April 2014. At this time, more than half of the population were infected with Zika virus where eight cases of microcephaly were diagnosed.
Association between #Zika and #microcephaly - new research from French Polynesia.https://t.co/QdgYG4Fc5r pic.twitter.com/1dPaLWVp3A
— The Lancet (@TheLancet) March 15, 2016
The research led by Dr. Simon Cauchemez, from the Institute Pasteur in Paris, based their findings on the total number of microcephaly cases against the weekly number of consultations for possible Zika infections and the total number of birth during the outbreak. They found that women are at the greatest risk of microcephaly during their first trimester.
The researchers calculated that 1 in 100 women infected with Zika virus is at risk of giving birth to children with microcephaly. The study provides a strong statistical support for microcephaly and Zika link.
However, Latin Times noted of Dr. Laura's Rodrigues response to the study. "If 1 percent is right, then that would be great news," according to the professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "But it just seems a bit implausible right now."
However, she admits that the microcephaly risk at the greatest during the first trimester as this is the brain development stage. She said that further research is still needed to better understand the link between Zika and microcephaly.
She announced that data will soon be available from Pernambuco, Colombia, Rio de Janeiro and other places too. To know more about microcephaly, check out the video below:
