Hawaii Baby With Brain Damage Is First U.S. Case Tied to Zika Virus

The first case of brain damage linked to the Zika virus within the United States was reported on Friday in Hawaii.

The Hawaii State Department of Health said that a baby born in an Oahu hospital with microcephaly — an unusually small head and brain — had been infected with the Zika virus, which is believed to have caused the same damage in thousands of babies in Brazil in recent months. The presence of the virus was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The child’s mother had lived in Brazil in May last year and probably was infected by a mosquito then, early in her pregnancy, the health department said. The virus presumably reached the embryo and damaged its developing brain.

This has been a serious thing here in Brazil and I'm very sad to find out that this is happening to people who also come to visit us. My best wishes to everyone who has been affected and who may still be affected by this in the future.

Article on NY Times

a reply to: LukeDAP
Hopefully the mother was no longer infectious to mosquitos when she went to Hawaii. If Zika became established there it would be a very bad thing.

There is currently a Dengue fever outbreak (borne by the same mosquitos which carry Zika) in Kona.

There have been no confirmed cases of Zika virus transmission within Hawaii, Dr. Park said. Six Hawaii residents are known to have had the virus since 2014, but all picked it up through travel elsewhere. Nevertheless, Hawaii is undergoing an outbreak of dengue fever, and the same mosquitoes that transmit it also can transmit Zika.

www.nytimes.com...

Wow ! So very sad for the parents and the parents of all those children ....let's hope it's not spreading here.

a reply to: LukeDAP

Adult female mosquitoes pick them up by biting one infected human, and then, some days later, after the virus has traveled from their gut to their salivary glands, they infect another human. Dr. Park said neither the mother nor the baby in Hawaii is still infectious.

This is very worrisome that it is spread by mosquito bites. At least they are no longer infectious though.

We're having a terrible problem here with Zika, but an even worse problem with Dengue, yes. Over 15 years ago, I was 9 and they started teaching us at school about Dengue, its dangers and its symptoms.

It had gotten better in the past years, but it's become a major issue again lately. Stronger than ever, IMO. It is truly scary.

Does Zika cause serious difficulties to adults or is it just to developing babies?

I don't want it to get established anymore than the next person for the sake of those who are pregnant and their unborn, but if it is a mild illness to those who are already born, then it might be the best thing to simply get it over with.

Normally, once you get an illness, you are immune to it, so hopefully, if you get it once, you won't get it again and unborn will be protected that way through their mother's own immunity.

Unless Zika mutates and keeps its bad effects in new strains at which point we have a serious problem.

a reply to: ketsuko

Does Zika cause serious difficulties to adults or is it just to developing babies?

Apparently not, mostly cold like symptoms. The real problems seem to be in utero. And it wasn't until large numbers of children were being born in Brazil with similar defects that a connection was made.

a reply to: ketsuko

According to the CDC about 1 in 5 become sick and the symptoms are usually mild.

www.cdc.gov...

a reply to: LukeDAP

I've always wondered why only certain types of mosquito's carry / transmit certain diseases. Anyone know? It seems they feel that if this type of mosquito is contained, they'll contain the Dengue and Zika viruses.

Two years ago they had a few cases of the Dengue fever break out in Key West . So now they are pushing for GMO Mosquitos to help rid any future issues .....Dengue fever worries me, and so does GMO Mosquitos....now I'm wondering about the Zika too? Lots of Mosquitos in the Keys .

a reply to: LukeDAP

You know... Paying ~$3 a gallon is worth living in a state with relatively few mosquitoes. If I ever make it big I will devote my life to getting rid of the mosquito menace.

Zika is now being reported in Asia as well.

At least it's not Ebola.

A while back mosquito borne diseases were almost wiped out. There was an app for it called DDT. Then the first head of the US EPA decided to show how powerful he was by banning it.