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CDC broadens weekly reporting of Zika pregnancies
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The CDC announced today that its weekly reports will include the total number of pregnant women with any detected Zika virus infection, as opposed to only those with symptoms and pregnancy complications, in the United States and its territories.
This decision follows recent data indicating microcephaly could occur among infants born from mothers with laboratory evidence of the infection but no clinical diagnosis, Margaret Honein, PhD, MPH, chief of the birth defects branch at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said during a CDC news conference. The weekly reports will come from two newly established sources: the U.S. Zika Pregnancy Registry and the Puerto Rico Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System.
“These Zika pregnancy surveillance systems cast a broad net to ensure we are monitoring all pregnant women who may be at risk for poor outcomes associated with Zika,” Honein said during the conference.
As of May 12, the surveillance systems are monitoring 157 pregnant women in the U.S. states and 122 pregnant women in its territories, according to an MMWR report released today. Under the previous reporting structure, there were 48 pregnant women meeting clinical criteria for Zika virus in the U.S. and 65 pregnant women in U.S. territories.
Despite this increase, Honein warned that this new system is broader than its predecessor, and that the two counts should not be directly compared.
“Because of the potential risks of Zika virus infection during pregnancy, CDC’s top priority for the Zika response will continue to be protecting pregnant women and their fetuses,” Honein said. “Understanding the range of health effects linked to Zika infection during pregnancy, as well as how many and which pregnancies may be at risk of poor outcomes, is essential for guiding our public health response to Zika.” – by Dave Muoio
Reference:
Simeone RM, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6520e1.
Disclosure: Honein and colleagues report no relevant financial disclosures.