Epilepsy surveillance in normocephalic children with and without prenatal Zika virus exposure

by Karen Blackmon, Randall Waechter, Barbara Landon, Trevor No ël, Calum Macpherson, Tyhiesia Donald, Nikita Cudjoe, Roberta Evans, Kemi S. Burgen, Piumi Jayatilake, Vivian Oyegunle, Otto Pedraza, Samah Abdel Baki, Thomas Thesen, Dennis Dlugos, Geetha Chari, Archana A. Patel, Elysse N. Grossi-Soyster, Amy R. Krystosik, A. Desiree LaBeaud Children with Congenital Zika Syndrome and microcephaly are at high risk for epilepsy; however, the risk is unclear in normocephalic children with prenatal Zika virus (ZIKV) exposure [Exposed Children (EC)]. In this prospective cohort study, we performed epilepsy screening in normocephalic EC alon gside a parallel group of normocephalic unexposed children [Unexposed Children (UC)]. We compared the incidence rate of epilepsy among EC and UC at one year of life to global incidence rates. Pregnant women were recruited from public health centers during the ZIKV outbreak in Grenada, West Indies an d assessed for prior ZIKV infection using a plasmonic-gold platform that measures IgG antibodies in serum. Normocephalic children born to mothers with positive ZIKV results during pregnancy were classified as EC and those born to mothers with negative ZIKV results during and after pregnancy were cla ssified as UC. Epilepsy screening procedures included a pediatric epilepsy screening questionnaire and video electroencephalography (vEEG). vEEG was collected using a multi-channel microEEG® system for a minimum of 20 minutes along with video recording of ...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research