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By B.L de Almeida, I.C de Siqueira, M.L.C Lage, L.S Lopes, A.L de Carvalho, M.M de Lima, M.d.F.N Goes, M.N Crispim, B.G.G Costa, C Giaquinto, G Fernandes, E Ruiz-Burga, C Thorne on belhaf of Zikaction consortium

Presented at WSPID 2022. View presentation slides

J.J. Anzinger, C.D. Mears, A.E. Ades, K Francis, Y Phillips, Y.E. Leys, M.J. Spyer, D Brown, A.M.B.d Filippis, E Nastouli, T Byrne, H Bailey, P Palmer, L Bryan, K Webster-Kerr, C Giaquinto, C Thorne, C.D.C. Christie, and on behalf of the ZIKAction Consortium

To determine the extent of exposure to Zika virus (ZIKV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in Jamaica, we collected serum from 584 pregnant women during 2017–2019. We found that 15.6% had antibodies against ZIKV and 83.6% against CHIKV. These results indicate potential recirculation of ZIKV but not CHIKV in the near future.

Published in Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal

By G Berberian, R Bologna, MG Pérez, A Mangano, PhD, M Costa, MSc, S Calligaris, MA Morales, C Rugilo, E Ruiz-Burga, C Thorne

There are gaps in understanding the causes and consequences of microcephaly. This paper describes the epidemiological characteristics, clinical presentations, and etiologies of children presenting microcephaly during the Zika outbreak in Argentina. This observational retrospective study conducted in the pediatric hospital of Juan P. Garrahan reviewed the medical records of 40 children presenting microcephaly between March 2017 and November 2019. The majority (60%) were males and born full-term. At first evaluation, microcephaly was defined as congenital (31/40, 77%) and associated with other features (68%) such as seizures, developmental delay, non-progressive chronic encephalopathy, and West Syndrome. It was found manifestations restricted to central nervous system (55%), ocular (8/40, 20%), and acoustic (9/40, 23%) defects, and abnormal neuroimaging findings (31/39, 79%). Non-infectious diseases were the primary cause of isolated microcephaly (21/37, 57%), largely related to genetic diseases (13/21, 62%). Only 3 were children were diagnosed with Congenital Zika infection (3/16, 7.5%).

Published in Sage Journals

By E Ruiz-Burga, IC de Siqueira, R Melbourne-Chambers , R Maria, CDC Christie, G Berberian, A Soriano-Arandes, H Bailey, P Palmer, A Oletto, B Lima, MLC Lage, C Giaquinto, C Thorne

Although the number of Zika virus (ZIKV) cases has substantially declined in Latin America and the Caribbean since the 2015-2016 outbreaks, the cohort of children born at that time and affected by congenital zika syndrome (CZS) are now around 4-5 years old and experiencing an ongoing impact on their health and development. Gaps in our understanding remain regarding the outcomes of ZIKV exposure in utero and congenital infection and the consequences of congenital zika syndrome (CZS) for health throughout childhood.

Published in Research square 2021 Aug 4