• Question: what does the zica virus do to pregnant women

    Asked by SPEC BOY to Christie, Dan, David, Dawn, Sian on 15 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Dawn Lau

      Dawn Lau answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      The Zika virus can infect pregnant women from a bite of a mosquito carrying the virus, and this virus can pass on to the unborn fetus.

      The virus can cause birth defects, particularly microcephaly which results in an abnormally small head caused by changes in brain development. It is not certain how likely the virus is passed on from the mother to the fetus. Because of these risks, pregnant women should be cautious about travelling to areas known to have Zika virus outbreaks. However, even though the virus can affect the unborn fetus, it seems to only cause mild symptoms in the mother and other affected individuals (in most cases).

    • Photo: Christie Waddington

      Christie Waddington answered on 20 Jun 2016:

      Recent research (only published last week!) suggests that the microcephaly (small head) and other serious brain problems only occur if the mother was infected with the virus early on in her pregnancy within the first 3 months. What is also interesting is that the mother does not always show symptoms, and most people infected with the Zika virus have no symptoms at all.

    • Photo: Sian Thomas

      Sian Thomas answered on 20 Jun 2016:

      A very interesting question – on a couple of counts

      This, like other diseases has particular effects in early pregnancy – whichever when it is really hard to ensure that people have access to the information they need to make informed choices. I my experience, following the first appointment with the mid-wife you receive a great bundle of info – most of which would have been much more useful before the conception event! It includes general info about what not to eat and do as well as specific information e.g. About existing medical conditions and medication. Of course, for Zika it seems like you need to know that you are / are likely to become pregnant but the advice is most useful before you have your first appointment!

      The second is in relation to how little we know about the transmission of some viruses. I think others have also indicated this – it really is not clear yet if there is the potential for person to person spread. Contrast this with Ebola where we know more, but also that person to person is hugely prevalent and things like flu. Do you remember the flu pandemic warnings – when fortunately for society the worst fears were not realized. Again possibly because of our limited knowledge about spread – but in the case of flu the fact that spread was not as great as expected did us all a huge favor.
      Contagion is networked systems (in the computer world) and how messages spread is currently a large topic of research – I expect that some of this will be transferable to biological systems which could help significantly in the next few years.

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