Researchers found that during the first trimester of gestation the placenta produces genes encoding proteins which the Zika virus finds a favorable biological environment for infection.
Study Offers Clues To Risk Of Zika Birth Defects In The U.S.
A US study involving 442 completed pregnancies by women exposed to the Zika virus shows that 6% resulted in Zika-linked defects in the fetus or baby with 4% having microcephaly, stressing the point that Zika poses a major risk despite the geography.
Fetuses exposed to Zika are 50 times more likely develop microcephaly, study finds
The first case-control study associating microcephaly and Zika demonstrates the risk the virus poses to developing fetuses and how widely and fast Zika spreads when it enters a new population.The powerful finding was an interim result; research is still undergoing.
Heartbreaking images of how Zika destroys babies’ brains
Brazilian researchers have published a paper showing that the damage to babies’ brains caused by the Zika virus may be far more extensive and diverse than previously known.
