Zika Virus, Microcephaly & Questions. Update: More Questions

The Zika virus has been blamed for the rising number of cases of microcephaly in Brazil. It is still the leading theory about what is causing the cases of microcephaly, but there may still be some important facts to consider. . . .

1. The Zika virus invaded Brazil in mid-2014, but large numbers of babies with mild microcephaly were born in Brazil as far back as 2012(Bull World Health Organ E-pub: 4 Feb 2016. doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.170639).

2. The original reports put the number of suspected cases of microcephaly at 4,783, but the Brazilian Ministry of Health has now said that there are only 404 confirmed cases.

3. Of the 404 confirmed cases of microcephaly in Brazil, only 17 of them tested positive for the Zika virus (New York Times, Feb. 3, 2016).

4. 2,100 pregnant women in Columbia are also infected with the Zika virus, but there has not been one case of microcephaly.

5. Zika virus was first isolated in Uganda in 1947, and the first human case was detected in 1954, but an association with microcephaly has never been reported (Clin Microbiol Infect 2014 Oct;20(10):O595–6).

UPDATE:
6. A just published study in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet has concluded: “Although there is evidence of an increased number of cases of microcephaly in Brazil, we show that the number of suspected cases relied on a screening test that had very low specificity and therefore overestimated the actual number of cases by including mostly normal children with small heads” (The Lancet 2016;doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00273-7.

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