The Ministry of Health is investigating the cause of microcephaly in two babies delivered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) this week. Doctors are trying to determine whether the birth defects are linked to the Zika virus or cytomegalovirus – a common virus that belongs to the herpes family of viruses – during pregnancy. But the authorities are advising Barbadians to stay calm.
Microcephaly is a birth defect in which a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age. Babies with microcephaly often have smaller brains that might not have developed properly.
The two cases aren’t the first in Barbados. The Ministry says that on average, two to three babies are born with microcephaly every year, but those are unrelated to Zika. And these are the first cases since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that there was a link between the mosquito-borne virus and the birth defect.
Meantime,
Hours after Puerto Rico reported 1,914 new cases of Zika in a week, a public health emergency was declared in the US island territory by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Puerto Rico has recorded 10,690 Zika cases, including those of 1,035 pregnant women, but the actual number of people infected is likely higher, officials said, because about eight out of 10 people with a Zika infection experience no symptoms and don’t seek testing.
“The current spread of Zika virus poses a significant threat to public health in the Commonwealth relating to pregnant women and children born to pregnant women with Zika,” HHS said in a statement.
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