Zika Virus Infection with Prolonged Maternal Viremia and Fetal Brain Abnormalities

Rita W Driggers1, Cheng-Ying Ho1, Essi M Korhonen1

  • 1From the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine (R.W.D., J.T.), and the Department of Pathology (F.J.R.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore; the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Sibley Memorial Hospital (R.W.D., J.T., J.R.), the Division of Pathology and Center for Genetic Medicine Research (C.-Y.H., A.R., D.A.H.), Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (R.L.D.), Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Imaging (G.V.), and the Fetal Medicine Institute, Division of Fetal and Transitional Medicine (A.P.), Children's National Health System, the Departments of Integrative Systems Biology (C.-Y.H., D.A.H.), Pediatrics and Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine (R.L.D.B.), and Radiology and Pediatrics (G.V.), George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Center for Policy, Planning and Evaluation (P.I.) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Applied Epidemiology Fellowship (A.H.), District of Columbia Department of Health, and One Medical Group (R.K.) - all in Washington, DC; the Departments of Virology (E.M.K., S.K., T.S., L.L., O.V.) and Veterinary Biosciences (E.M.K., O.V.), University of Helsinki, and the Department of Virology and Immunology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital (A.J.J., O.V.), Helsinki; and the Arboviral Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC, Atlanta (R.L.).

Summary

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in early pregnancy can cause severe fetal brain abnormalities, even without microcephaly. Postmortem analysis confirmed ZIKV presence and brain damage in a fetus infected during the first trimester.