According to a study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, American scientists confirm that they have “for the first time definitely established the fact” that the Zika virus “can trigger” cerebral deformities in the foetus, including microcephaly.
Although grey areas remain, such as “the period during pregnancy when the foetus is mostly at risk”, or the link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome, there appears to be no doubt that the Zika virus “can cause microcephaly”. The virus is transmitted by female mosquito bites and through sexual intercourse.
This latest scientific study does not, therefore, alter the advice given to pregnant women not to enter risk areas or to partners of pregnant women or women of child-bearing potential returning from a risk area and couples living in risk areas to use condoms.
AFP (13/04/2016)