Facts about the Zika test

Newborns must be checked for infection with the Zika virus if the mothers have lived or went to any of the nations who suffered from an outbreak and if the mothers tests were positive according to the health officials in an interview.  There is a reason behind the test and the babies may be infected with the Zika virus may be associated with the defects and their eyesight might be affected along with their sense to hear. Some other abnormalities may happen in the brain of the baby, even if the baby doesn’t have a brain damage, the head might be small in size which is called microcephaly according to the health officials.  There is a new rule that applies to newborn babies with mothers who were said to have the signs of Zika virus like red eyes, fever, joint pain and rashes while staying in a country affected by the virus or 2 weeks upon traveling.

After a month, the babies with the probability of having a congenital Zika virus infection must also get an eye check along with a specialized test for hearing according to the health officials.  There must also be a check for some neuro abnormalities.  When the baby reaches his/her 6th month of life, the hearing tests must be repeated, even if the result in the first month of life is quite normal.  There is a rationale and that is they do not know the spectrum of the issues that may be linked to Zika virus, so they want to do a lot of tests on the baby.  They worry so much about the babies, because some other intrauterine infections might have affected the baby and that may show up first or lastly after birth.

Zika and the lives affected by it

Just this January, there was a report about 3 babies in Brazil has mirocephaly and it was assumed because of Zika virus. The babies also suffer from visual abnormalities 2-3 months after they were delivered. One of the babies had severe kind of macular degeneration.  Even if your kid doesn’t have any signs of calcifications or microcephaly, it is just so essential for the baby born from the mother infected by Zika during pregnancy to be tested completely. You will never know the extent of the damage and there may be some neuro damage and abnormalities in hearing and in the eyesight too.

The disease agency pushed through the OB Gyne to ask the patients about their travel background or where they stayed while they were pregnant. The doctors must work together with pedias to know who among the pregnant mothers might have been infected and needed help for their babies. Microcephaly & calcification of the skull may be discovered using an ultrasound; it may be done by the end of the 2nd trimester of the pregnancy. If the baby is born without the condition and the mother’s test for Zika is negative, yet she stayed in an infected area, there will be no other tests that will be conducted to the baby according to the health officials