Zika Virus Causes Damage to
Infants Beyond Microcephaly, Study
Finds
Other brain and skull conditions detected that may cause newborns to die shortly
after birth
ENLARGE
A 4-month-old baby born with microcephaly is held by his mother earlier this year in Olinda, Brazil. PHOTO: REUTERS
By REED JOHNSON
Oct. 3, 2016 11:00 a.m. ET
SO PAULOA new study of Zika-infected Brazilian pregnant women and their infants adds to growing
evidence the mosquito-borne virus can cause an array of severe birth defects that go far beyond microcephaly.
The study of 11 Brazilian babies, by a team of doctors and medical researchers, documents various congenital
disorders including not only undersized skulls and brains, but also malformations of the cerebellum, gaps and
lesions in the skull, and other conditions that may cause newborns to die shortly after birth or have long-term
cognitive and other disabilities.
A summary of the study and its conclusions is being published online by JAMA Neurology, a monthly peerreviewed journal of the American Medical Association.
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Dr. Amilcar Tanuri, a co-author of the study, said the new research exposes a constellation of maladies,
collectively known as congenital Zika syndrome, that show the Zika virus to beunique among congenital viral
diseases in its range of damaging effects.
Its very similar to CMV and rubella, but I think Zika makes much more damage compared to these two
viruses, said Dr. Tanuri, a researcher with the laboratory of molecular virology at the Federal University of Rio
de Janeiro.
The Wall Street Journal in April reported that Brazilian doctors are finding that theseverity of prenatal
damage caused by the Zika virus is far worse than previously recorded birth defects associated with
microcephaly, a condition characterized by a small head and brain abnormalities. Autopsies and imaging
technologies have revealed Zika can destroy fetal brain tissue, permanently impairing a newborns basic
cognitive and sensory functions.
The Zika virus has been detected in more than 40 countries world-wide since it first surfaced in Uganda in the
1940s. But no country so far has been hit harder than Brazil, where the first widespread incidences were
recorded linking the virus, which also can be sexually transmitted, to cases of newborns with shrunken heads
and brains.
From Oct. 22, 2015, when reporting of microcephaly cases became obligatory in Brazil, to Sept. 17, 2016, the
country has seen a total of 1,949 confirmed microcephaly cases, according to the Brazilian health ministry.
Through Aug. 13 of this year, the most recent figures available, Brazil has reported a total of 196,976 probable
Zika cases.
Recent studies have shed light on how the Zika virus -- which can cause serious birth defects -- may be transmitted from
infected mother to unborn child. Image: Dr. Indira U. Mysorekar, Dr. Bin Cao/Washington University
The 11 infants involved in the new study, who were observed from gestation to 6 months of age, were from the
state of Paraba, in Brazils northeast, the region that has registered the largest number of cases of congenital
Zika syndrome.
The cases involved in the study were compiled from October 2015 to February 2016. The presence of the Zika
virus was confirmed during pregnancy in all the mothers involved; ultrasound exams revealed abnormalities in
brain development of the pregnant womens fetuses.
Three of the 11 babies being studied died within 48 hours of delivery, according to the report.
Combined findings from clinical, laboratory, imaging and pathological examinations provided a more
complete picture of the severe damage and developmental abnormalities caused by ZIKV [Zika virus] infection
than has been previously reported, the study concludes.
A number of medical researchers believe that almost all babies afflicted with Zika-related developmental
disabilities will require long-term, continual care and that some of these disorders wont even be detectable until
the babies grow into children.
Dr. Tanuri said the new study suggests all expectant mothers in areas where Zika is endemic should get
ultrasound testing as early as possible during their pregnancies.
But he acknowledged that the number of laboratories and clinics that can perform such tests is limited in Brazil,
particularly in those regions most ravaged by Zika, and that the countrys current recession has hurt the flow of
government medical funding.
In my lab, we are burning the midnight oil. We have no money to continue, Dr. Tanuri said. I hope the
situation will change.
Rogerio Jelmayer contributed to this article.
Write to Reed Johnson at Reed.Johnson@wsj.com
