Zika: the leading cause of mortality among babies

At the moment, the CDC is now coordinating with the researchers in Brazil for further studies about Zika virus. The scientists want to find out if the fast spreading of the virus is affecting the brain development of the fetuses or the unborn kids that leads to infant born with small heads and brain. In the current briefing with the CDC director, he said that in every passing day, the link between Zika virus and microcephaly is becoming stronger. At the moment, there is no further study first being conducted to know if there is a need to know the cause and effect and the link between the virus and the small brain and head cases. They will use a certain kind of study which they call the case control study.

There is a proof that shows how that link is currently emergent. The CDC currently studied the specimens of the brain tissues of 2 babies with microcephaly in Brazil. These kids died at a short span of time just after delivery, while the 2 pregnancies that ended in the early miscarriage. All of the mothers showed the signs of Zika infection like rashes and fever during the first trimester of pregnancy.  The lab results just showed that the presence of Zika virus in the brain tissues of the babies along in the placenta from the miscarriages. This just goes to show that there is a strong link between the in utero exposure to the Zika virus and microcephaly. This is according to the CDC report that was published on February 10.

To check even more the association of Zika virus and microcephaly, one of the points in the methods being used by the researchers is the use of the case control study. This may give a strong proof of the link than what was collected so far.  The use of this kind of study will determine if the babies who have microcephaly considered the instances and the fetuses that never had birth defects may be considered the controls. As soon as the tests are over and there is big amount of result in every group, the team will compare the characteristics of the babies and the mothers as well. They will check for further environmental reasons to figure out the signal of the connection.

Are there clues?

At the moment, there are no clues yet; the CDC is still working on the study to find results and helpful information to support their studies. They cautiously evaluate the proofs based on scientific data and information that may be of help in establishing the picture of the link between the virus and the brain deformity among babies.