Brazilian States Will Keep Record of Pregnant Women Who Show Signs of Zika Virus

11/19/2015 - 10h05

The state department of Health in Rio de Janeiro has made it mandatory for health professionals from both public and private networks to report, within 24 hours of seeing the patient, all cases of pregnant women with patches on their skin.

That is one of the symptoms associated with the Zika vírus, an illness identified in the country earlier this year which is transmitted by the same mosquito responsible for dengue.

The move comes before investigations, in the northeast, of a possible link between Zika infections in pregnant women and an increase in newborns born with microcephaly, the malformation of the skull which can compromise child cognitive development and motor skills.

Folha learned that Pernambuco is also preparing a similar protocol to alert about symptoms of the disease.

According to Deputy-Secretary for Health Surveillance, Alexandre Chieppe, the idea is to conduct exams that can confirm Zika infection, so as to create an epidemiological map.

Identified in Brazil in June, cases of Zika virus have been recorded in 14 states, including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Often, the illness is confused for Dengue. The duration of the Zika virus symptoms, also more mild, is shorter.

Also according to Chieppe, the measure allows the analysis of a possible relationship between the disease and the possibility of the birth of babies with microcephaly.

But, until now, an increase in the number of births of babies with a microcephaly diagnosis has not been reported in the state. On average, Rio de Janeiro reports 15 to 20 cases of microcephaly a year.

In three months, the country already counted 399 cases of babies with microcephaly. The situation led the government to declare a national public health emergency, as a way to increase alertness and organize the service network.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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