Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
International

New Jersey Doc: Baby Born To Mom With Zika Looks 'affected'

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 01 Jun, 2016 12:47 PM
    HACKENSACK, N.J. — A baby born to a mother with the Zika virus at a New Jersey hospital appears to be affected by the disease, according to a doctor who helped lead the delivery team.
     
    A woman from Honduras delivered the baby girl through a cesarean section Tuesday at Hackensack University Medical Center, said Dr. Abdulla Al-Kahn, the hospital's director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery.
     
    The 31-year-old mother was diagnosed with Zika in her native Honduras after lab results were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation of the virus, said Al-Kahn. She then came to New Jersey, where she has family, to seek further treatment, he said.
     
    Al-Kahn said the mother had a normal ultrasound early in her pregnancy, and that another one last week showed birth defects, including microcephaly, in which the baby's head is smaller than expected because the brain hasn't developed properly.
     
    The doctor said the baby looks "completely Zika affected," and while further testing is required to confirm the virus, he's "90 to 95 per cent" sure it's Zika.
     
    "It was very sad for us to see a baby born with such a condition," he said.
     
    Al-Kahn said the prognosis for babies born with microcephaly, which also can signal underlying brain damage, is "generally very poor."
     
    The mother is "hanging in there" said Al-Kahn.
     
    "But of course what human being isn't going to be devastated by this news?" he added.
     
    Earlier this year, the CDC reported that a baby born in a Hawaii hospital was the first in the United States with a birth defect linked to the Zika virus.
     
    A total of 10 countries so far reported cases of microcephaly linked to Zika, which is spread primarily through mosquito bites and can also be transmitted through sex. With more than 1,400 reported cases, Brazil has the most, by far. The CDC has joined the World Health Organization in recommending that pregnant women avoid travelling to Zika-affected countries. If pregnant women get infected, there is no known treatment to prevent them from stopping transmission of the virus to their unborn babies.
     
    While Al-Kahn described the New Jersey case as "absolutely devastating," he said he hopes it will serve as an "awakening call" for the country to take strong measures to prevent the disease.
     
    "It's time for us to do something," he said.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Victim Of Fatal, Targeted Vancouver Shooting Known To Investigators

    Victim Of Fatal, Targeted Vancouver Shooting Known To Investigators
    Sgt. Randy Fincham says the attack occurred in the city's south Cambie neighbourhood at about 10:30 Monday night.

    Victim Of Fatal, Targeted Vancouver Shooting Known To Investigators

    Canada Joins International Group Seeking Peaceful Settlement In Syria

    Canada Joins International Group Seeking Peaceful Settlement In Syria
    The International Syria Support Group includes 26 countries and organizations, including the United States and Russia, which are co-chairs of the body.

    Canada Joins International Group Seeking Peaceful Settlement In Syria

    The 'Untouchables' Of Yemen Caught In Crossfire Of War

    The 'Untouchables' Of Yemen Caught In Crossfire Of War
    They live in shantytowns on the outskirts of cities, are often refused schooling and work menial jobs like shoe-shining or street cleaning or turn to begging. Other Yemenis have traditionally called them the "Akhdam," or "servants."

    The 'Untouchables' Of Yemen Caught In Crossfire Of War

    Pakistan Sees Jihad As Low-cost Option To Bleed India: Husain Haqqani

    Pakistan Sees Jihad As Low-cost Option To Bleed India: Husain Haqqani
    Prosecution of jihadis in Pakistan is difficult as the system considers them to be "the good guys", according to Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's former envoy to the US.

    Pakistan Sees Jihad As Low-cost Option To Bleed India: Husain Haqqani

    Earthquake Of Magnitude 5.6 Jolts Japan

    Earthquake Of Magnitude 5.6 Jolts Japan
    The quake struck at 9:23 p.m. local time at a latitude of 36.0 degrees north and longitude of 139.9 degrees east, Xinhua reported. 

    Earthquake Of Magnitude 5.6 Jolts Japan

    New Website Helps Germans And Migrants Meet, Talk About Life

    New Website Helps Germans And Migrants Meet, Talk About Life
    Thousands of migrants were pouring into Germany every day, but the 36-year-old startup consultant from Berlin hadn't met a single one of them.

    New Website Helps Germans And Migrants Meet, Talk About Life