Published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, a study led by Professor Mehdi Mejdoubi presents the follow-up results recorded in 103 new-born infants born “to women infected with the Zika virus during pregnancy and in whom antenatal ultrasound scans did not detect any cerebral anomaly“. Based on a brain scan, the study concluded that the 103 babies were normal “apart from 5 with a minor anomaly that was probably not related to the Zika virus“.
“With these results, we are showing that ultrasound screening has detected all cases of microcephaly prior to birth,” analyses Professor Mejdoubi. Out of the 14 couples whose unborn baby presented signs of microcephaly, 13 opted for an abortion.
According to the World Health Organisation, 3,689 babies with Zika-related microcephalies have been recorded on the American continent since 2015.
[1] Virus that triggers microcephaly – “a brain malformation in the embryo following an infection in the mother caused by an Aedes mosquito during pregnancy“. It is a “severe and irremediable disability (severe intellectual retardation accompanied by various motor disorders). Microcephaly is estimated to affect 1 to 5 % of babies born to women who were infected during pregnancy“.
Figaro, Pauline Fréour (17/10/2017)