Link between Zika virus and microcephaly
Vínculo entre el virus del Zika y la microcefalia
- Date
- 2015-2016 · confidence high
- Place
- Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
- Credited to
- Vanessa van der Linden, Adriana Melo, Celina Turchi and other Brazilian physicians
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Paediatricians and obstetricians in north-east Brazil noticed in 2015 a surge in newborns with microcephaly and linked it to maternal Zika infection. The virus was found in amniotic fluid and studies confirmed the congenital syndrome.
The link was suspected by clinicians in Recife in October 2015; causality was confirmed by epidemiological and laboratory studies during 2016.
What it led to
- International public health emergency (February 2016)
- Definition of congenital Zika syndrome
- Research on vaccines and diagnostics