How Does the Zika Virus Affect Pregnant Women?

Kierstin McCoy

How Does the Zika Virus Affect Pregnant Women?

            As I sat down to begin writing this blog post, I thought back over the many articles I had read, and it seemed an impossible task picking just one recent scientific development to discuss. Biology and many other fields are moving quickly into the future with discoveries and new topics and it is easy to get wrapped up in your screen while engrossed in the newest finds. In order to help myself narrow down the field of topics, I decided to pick something that I could relate to. This blog post will discuss the Zika virus and my reaction to the new information that I learned throughout this process.

            Anyone with even a tiny bit of interest in what is going on in our society has at least heard of the Zika virus, but how many actually know what it does to the body? I’ll be completely honest when I say that I had no idea what effect it has on humans, and more interestingly, pregnant women. I read the article “Generation Zika” by Dina Fine Maron. It was published on the Scientific American website on October 4, 2016, so it is a very recent article written within this month. Zika was found in the United States in July 2016, and already there have been 808 pregnant women infected with the Zika virus. This number is important because pregnant women who are infected, can pass the disease onto their unborn baby. The virus’s effect on adults is usually minimal, with symptoms including fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). However, when a fetus becomes infected, the virus can cause many different birth defects and that is why Zika is so dangerous. Babies affected by this virus have been born with microcephaly (an extremely small head), total or partial hearing loss, vision loss, joint deformities or serious neurological damage. What is worse, some of these women did not know that they were infected until their child had major damage after birth! All of this information was fascinating and brand new to me, and it concerns me that I did not know how serious this virus could be. Are there others who do not know the affect that this virus can have on unborn babies? I hope that if nothing else, I can inform some of my classmates about the dangers of Zika.

            This article was not only enjoyable to read, but very informative; it opened my eyes to this virus and how easy it is to be oblivious to modern day issues. I had no idea how serious this could be, or that in places like Puerto Rico, as many as 1 in 4 people may become infected. That makes the break-out in America seem like nothing, but it raises a lot of thoughts and worries. My older sister is pregnant with her first child, and I cannot help but think of her and my future nephew as I research this topic. The concluding sentence of this article has resonated with me ever since I read it, “for children born with Zika-affected abnormalities in the current generation, crucial answers about the virus and how to stop it will have come too late.” Scientists are working hard to find a way to stop this virus, but those who have been born with the effects of Zika will live with the results all their lives.