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Zika virus intrauterine infections from the obstetrician’s perspective
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Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKAV) infections could potentially occur in Poland due to international travel made by its nationals to regions where the Aedes mosquito is active. A causal relationship between prenatal ZIKAV infection and microcephaly and other serious brain anomalies has been found due to the time association between the infection in pregnancy and a presence of congenital nervous system malformations, together with the detectable pathogen in amniotic fluid and fetus’s tissues. Two ZIKAV infection cases of pregnant women who were diagnosed with fetal microcephaly in the state of Paraiba, Brazil, later described in Ultrasound Obstetrics and Gynecology by Oliveira Mello et al. are discussed, in the context of the possible introduction of ZIKAV into Poland and the role the obstetrician should play in the detection and rapid reaction to potential threats. According to recommendations of international agencies for disease control and prevention, Polish obstetricians who take care of pregnant women and of those planning to become pregnant in the nearest future, and declaring travels to areas of the Aedes mosquito activity, should advise their patients to consider postponing travel or if they must travel, to take necessary precautionary measures to avoid mosquito bites. Pregnant women who have travelled to areas with ZIKAV transmission, or whose male partners had travelled to such areas and returned in the period of their female partner’s pregnancy, should be monitored appropriately in the context of congenital abnormalities, including microcephaly.
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKAV) infections could potentially occur in Poland due to international travel made by its nationals to regions where the Aedes mosquito is active. A causal relationship between prenatal ZIKAV infection and microcephaly and other serious brain anomalies has been found due to the time association between the infection in pregnancy and a presence of congenital nervous system malformations, together with the detectable pathogen in amniotic fluid and fetus’s tissues. Two ZIKAV infection cases of pregnant women who were diagnosed with fetal microcephaly in the state of Paraiba, Brazil, later described in Ultrasound Obstetrics and Gynecology by Oliveira Mello et al. are discussed, in the context of the possible introduction of ZIKAV into Poland and the role the obstetrician should play in the detection and rapid reaction to potential threats. According to recommendations of international agencies for disease control and prevention, Polish obstetricians who take care of pregnant women and of those planning to become pregnant in the nearest future, and declaring travels to areas of the Aedes mosquito activity, should advise their patients to consider postponing travel or if they must travel, to take necessary precautionary measures to avoid mosquito bites. Pregnant women who have travelled to areas with ZIKAV transmission, or whose male partners had travelled to such areas and returned in the period of their female partner’s pregnancy, should be monitored appropriately in the context of congenital abnormalities, including microcephaly.
Keywords
diagnosis, pregnancy, infection, prevention, clinical manifestation, Zika virus
About this articleTitle
Zika virus intrauterine infections from the obstetrician’s perspective
Journal
Issue
Article type
Review paper
Pages
538-539
Published online
2016-07-29
Page views
1535
Article views/downloads
1766
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
Ginekol Pol 2016;87(7):538-539.
Keywords
diagnosis
pregnancy
infection
prevention
clinical manifestation
Zika virus
Authors
Maria Gańczak
Agnieszka Brodowska
