Zika Virus Pregnant woman
Malaysia Health Minister, Subramaniam Sathasivam, has confirmed its first case of Zika virus in a pregnant woman, living in a southern city next to city-state of Singapore on Wednesday.
The Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized, besides other brain abnormalities.
The Minister disclosed that the 27-year-old woman, who was three to four-months pregnant, lives in southern city of Johor Bahru, next to Singapore which has reported a total of 275 cases so far.
Her husband, who works in Singapore, had also showed symptoms of Zika and was undergoing tests.
“It’s still unclear whether the woman contracted the disease from her husband or whether it was locally transmitted,” Subramaniam told a press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital.
Last week, Malaysia confirmed the first imported case of Zika in a 58-year-old woman who had visited Singapore. On Saturday, it confirmed the first case of a locally transmitted Zika infection.
Sathasivam said Malaysia was expecting to see more cases in Johor Bahru because of its closeness to Singapore. About 200,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to the city-state.
Although microcephaly was typically detected during ultrasounds in the late second and early third trimester of pregnancy, these findings can be detected as early as 18-20 weeks gestation, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Source: theguildng.com
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