Studies add more evidence of Zika’s risk to pregnant women

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The Zika virus may be linked to a wider variety of “grave outcomes” for developing babies than previously reported – threats that can come at any stage of pregnancy, researchers reported Friday.

The findings are preliminary results from the first study tracking pregnant women in Brazil from the time they were infected, and do not prove that Zika is to blame. But they come as separate laboratory research released Friday strengthens the case that Zika causes a serious birth defect called microcephaly – babies born with abnormally small heads – by targeting embryonic brain cells.

The mosquito-borne virus, which is spreading in Latin America and the Caribbean, normally causes only mild symptoms, if any, in adults. But it raised alarms when Brazilian health officials reported an apparent surge in babies born with microcephaly, which can signal their brains didn’t develop properly.