From U.S. News
May 11, 2020
Toddlers with congenital Zika syndrome have severe developmental delays, researchers report.
In a study that covered a five-year period, researchers found that children in Brazil with congenital Zika syndrome who had microcephaly at birth suffered severe mental delays.
Microcephaly is a condition in which the head is smaller than normal. Its severity was the only significant factor linked to developmental delays, according to the study authors.
The study included more than 120 children. At age 2.5 years, nearly all of these children were functioning like 2-month to 4-month-old babies.
“The research findings reinforce public health concerns during the Zika outbreaks in 2015 and 2016 regarding the severity of disability that children with [congenital Zika syndrome] and their caregivers will be experiencing in the years to come,” said public health analyst Anne Wheeler of RTI International, a nonprofit research institute in Research Triangle Park, N.C.