This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Consider Zika in children with known epidemiologic risk factors, illness
Health care providers should consider the possibility of Zika virus infection in children with epidemiological risk factors and clinically compatible illnesses and counsel sexually active teens about the risk for congenital Zika virus disease, according to a recent MMWR.
“Guillain-Barré syndrome and other neurologic complications can occur in adults after Zika virus infection,” Alyson B. Goodman, MD, from the division of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention for Health Promotion at the CDC, and colleagues wrote. “However, there are few published reports describing postnatally acquired Zika virus disease among children. During January 2015 to July 2016, a total of 158 cases of confirmed or probable postnatally acquired Zika virus disease among children aged less than 18 years were reported to the CDC from U.S. states.”
To evaluate the epidemiology, clinical findings and outcomes of children affected by the Zika virus postnatally, Goodman and colleagues evaluated data from the 158 confirmed or probable cases reported in the U.S. during the outbreak. All patient cases were associated with traveling, with the majority of patients having traveled to the Dominican Republic (n = 39), Puerto Rico (n = 26), Honduras (n = 17), Nicaragua (n = 17) and Jamaica (n = 14). Median patient age was 14 years and 88 patients were girls, including five pregnant patients aged 16 to 17 years.
Among 158 cases, 129 (82%) had a rash, 87 (55%) had fever, 45 (29%) had conjunctivitis and 44 (28%) had arthralgia. Seventy percent of children presented with two or more of the Zika primary clinical signs and symptoms, and 33% presented with three or more. There was no significant difference between ages and symptoms; however, almost half of the children were aged 15 to 17 years and predominantly girls. The researchers suspected the higher number of girls and older children might be due this group seeking health care testing more frequently and being more likely to travel and have symptoms. In addition, Zika virus may not be suspected in younger children because signs and symptoms resemble those of other childhood illnesses.
“Protecting children from mosquito bites is the best way to prevent Zika virus infection in children,” the researchers wrote. “However, among sexually active adolescents, there is also a risk for sexual transmission of Zika virus; either mosquito-borne transmission or sexual transmission during pregnancy could result in congenital infection.” – by Kate Sherrer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
