How does the Zika virus affect babies?

In pregnant women, the virus can cause miscarriages, stillborn babies, or babies with birth defects. One serious birth defect caused by Zika is microcephaly. In microcephaly (the medical word for small head), a baby’s brain and skull don’t grow properly, so the baby will have severe developmental and health problems.

How does the Zika virus affect children?

Federal health officials have confirmed the Zika virus can cause microcephaly (babies born with a small head) and other brain and physical abnormalities in infants. Because the Zika virus can affected the fetus’ developing brain and cause long-lasting negative consequences, prevention is critical.

When are babies safe from Zika?

“I would not take a small newborn — under 6 months — to a country at risk for Zika,” Silverman says. Several studies have shown that Zika can damage a fetus’s brain in the third trimester. “Even when a mother is infected late in pregnancy, adverse outcomes can occur,” Silverman says.

Can mosquitoes harm a baby?

Are mosquito-borne illnesses a danger to young children, or just to babies in utero? Infections that are transmitted by mosquitoes can affect people of all ages. Some, such as dengue virus, are known to cause more severe illness in very young children.

Can Zika affect toddlers?

Infants and children can become infected with Zika virus during or after pregnancy.

How does Zika affect the brain?

Very rarely, Zika may cause severe disease affecting the brain, causing swelling of the brain or spinal cord or a blood disorder which can result in bleeding, bruising or slow blood clotting.

What part of the body does Zika affect?

Zika virus directly infects brain cells and evades immune system detection, study shows. Summary: The mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to microcephaly and other neurological problems in newborns of affected mothers directly infects the brain progenitor cells destined to become neurons, researchers report in a new study …

Can infants get Zika?

What are the side effects of Zika virus?

The Zika virus is spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes, and can transmit the Zika disease to its victims. Common side effects include fever, rash, and red eyes. Although the Zika virus can spread quickly, it rarely leads to hospitalization or death.

What does Zika virus do?

Once the symptoms are present, they typically last from days to 1 week. As for more specifically what the Zika virus does to your body, once infected, Zika appears to fight your immune system by interfering with how your body’s cells use signaling proteins to call on your immune system to react to a specific infection.

Is Zika still around?

Aedes aegypti , the species known to transmit Zika, has now been documented in 38 additional counties in the United States. The most concentrated populations are still in southern California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but they have been spotted as far north as New Hampshire.

What is congenital Zika?

Congenital Zika syndrome is caused by exposure to the Zika virus before birth. This may happen if the mother is infected from a mosquito bite or through sexual contact with an affected partner. Signs and symptoms of congenital Zika syndrome include birth defects (like small head size) and other health and development problems.