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Brazilian study shows Zika virus may cause sight defects in babies

Xinhua, February 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

A new Brazilian medical study showed that babies born with microcephaly after their mothers contracted the Zika virus in pregnancy might be at risk of sight problems as well.

The study, which was published in the JAMA Ophthalmology medical journal Tuesday, reached the conclusion based on results of tests done by medical doctors over 29 babies, all born with microcephaly, at the Roberto Santos General Hospital in Salvador in December.

All of the babies were tested, with 10 out of 29 showing visual defects in one or both eyes. The babies showed a variety of conditions, including tissue damage to the retina, damaged blood vessels in the eye, and black dots at the back of the eye.

External factors such as congenital conditions passed from the mother or other diseases were ruled out.

The article explaining the findings, written by Dr. Lee Jampol of the Feinberg School of Medicine, stated that it is not known to what extent the babies can see but that such results indicate damage to the eye.

Speaking to the New York Times, Dr. Rubens Belfort Jr, the study's lead researcher and a professor of ophthalmology at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, stated that "based on my experience, I would say a large number of these kids will be blind."

While such damage is irreparable, the authors of the study recommended that doctors suspecting Zika virus should carry out eye exams for all babies with microcephaly.

The study also referred to the example of the arrival of the West Nile virus, which is related to Zika, in the U.S., explaining that it was also passed from mother to child through the placenta and caused similar eye damage in babies.

While this study adds to the mounting speculation that the Zika virus heightens the risk of cases of microcephaly, Guillain-Barré syndrome and visual lesions, this study is cautious.

"The mild nature of the infection makes ascertainment of a relation between maternal infection and subsequent fetal anomalies difficult," wrote Jampol. Endit