A third of children up to age 3 exposed to Zika in-utero have neurological problems

New UCLA-led research suggests that 32% of children up to the age of 3 years who were exposed to the Zika virus during the mother ’s pregnancy had below-average neurological development.The study also found that fewer than 4% of 216 children evaluated had microcephaly —a smaller-than-normal head that is one of the hallmarks of the mosquito-borne disease. The heads of two of those children grew to normal size over time, the researchers reported.The studywas published in the journal Nature Medicine.The findings, conducted by UCLA researchers with colleagues in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the disease was first detected, as well as in Austria and Germany, are a follow-up to  previous research. That study showed substantial neurologic damage identified through developmental testing and neuroimaging in children younger than age 2 whose mothers were infected with Zika during their pregnancies.“Children who were exposed to Zika during their mothers’ pregnancy need to have developmental assessments over time, and eye and hearing exams should be performed,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Karin Nielsen-Saines, a professor of clinical pediatrics in the division of pediatric infecti ous diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. “If there is risk of developmental delay, or developmental delay is identified, there are cognitive, language and behavior interventions that can be put in place to improve outcomes for the...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news