First Case of Zika Infection in a New Born Child with Microcephaly Confirmed in Travis County

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Jan 16, 2017 08:40 PM EST

The first case of Zika virus is reported in Travis County in a new-born kid who had apparent signs of microcephaly. The test reports have confirmed that the child is born with Zika virus. But, the case is not locally transmitted as the mother of the child is reportedly a migrant from Central America in August 2016.

The pregnant mother who most probably has transmitted the Zika virus to her unborn child traveled to Travis County in August 2016 had already lived there in Central America for a long time. Most of the time of her pregnancy is also spent there. The congenital disease that the child has suffered from developed during the early stages of the pregnancy.

Travis Count has the record of 20 positive Zika infection cases among which 6 are pregnant women.  The entire cases are a result of traveling to areas where the infection is widely spread.

The main cause of the Zika spread is sexual intercourse other than the mosquito bite. On 30th December, the number of patients suffering from the fatal infection had reached 294 in Texas. 20 of these were women and only 2 infants.

There is no vaccine for Zika and also no treatment. The only successful method to avoid Zika is prevention.  Disabling breeding ground for mosquitos and avoiding mosquito bites is the best means to prevent the infection. Having protected and restricted sex is another fast and effective way of keeping the infection at bay, reports Texas Zika.

The symptoms of the infection are rash, fever, joint pain and conjunctivitis. The infected patient needs to stay away from infecting other people by fully abandoning the sexual intercourse. The greatest danger of the infection is for pregnant women when the virus leaves the unborn child life-long head and brain deformation in the form of microcephaly, according to Austin Texas.

The mosquito-spread virus is also linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome. This is a nervous system ailment in which the immune system of the body damages the nerve cells. Weak muscles and nervous could lead to paralysis.

Zika is also linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is a nervous system ailment that shows the immune system damaging nerve cells. This results in the muscle becoming weak, which could lead to paralysis.

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