Almost 300 US Pregnant Women Infected With Zika
MEP: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that nearly 300 pregnant women across the United States and its territories have tested positive for the Zika virus, including over 150 inside the US.
Health officials are keeping tabs on 157 pregnant women who have been infected within the 50 US states, the CDC added.
That is more than three times higher than the CDC previously reported on May 11, when it said that 48 pregnant women in the US had the virus.
Public health officials are gathering data on the health consequences of the infection, including the rate at which fetuses develop abnormally shrunken heads and brain damage, a birth defect called microcephaly.
The largest number of cases by far are in Puerto Rico, where officials are keeping tabs on 122 pregnant women.
“One challenge of this Zika virus outbreak is the lack of understanding of the magnitude of risk and the spectrum of outcomes associated with Zika virus infection during pregnancy,” researchers wrote in a report Friday. The surveillance effort, they noted, is intended to “enhance risk assessment and counseling of pregnant women and families, advance clinical care, and assist states and territories to anticipate and plan needed resources and increase prevention efforts.”
Overall, there have been 544 cases of Zika reported in the US and 800 cases in US territories.
The CDC said it has dramatically increased its testing capacity for Zika in the United States as it girds for an increase in cases during the summer mosquito season.
