Zika may not have gone away this summer, but it didn’t make a comeback, either.
New cases in pregnant women are still being reported, but the numbers are much lower than a year ago, when the infection was kicking into high gear. For the 2 weeks ending Aug. 22, 106 pregnant women with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection were reported: 43 in the U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and 63 in the U.S. territories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The total cases reported for the previous 2-week periods, going back to mid-June, look like this: 102 (June 14-27), 160 (June 28–July 11), 95 (July 12-25), and 103 (July 26–Aug. 8). In the summer of 2016, the 2-week period of Aug. 12-25 produced 375 new reports of Zika-infected pregnant women, the CDC data show.
Since the beginning of 2015, there have been 2,155 pregnant women with Zika reported in the states and D.C., and 4,481 in the territories – a total of 6,636 cases. As of Aug. 22, 5,120 of those pregnancies had been completed – 1,862 in the states and D.C., and 3,258 in the territories. Among those completed pregnancies, there have been 95 infants born with birth defects in the states and D.C., and 132 in the territories. The states and D.C. have reported eight pregnancy losses with birth defects, and the territories have reported seven, the CDC said.
The CDC noted that these are not real-time data and reflect only pregnancy outcomes for women with any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, although it is not known if Zika virus was the cause of the poor outcomes. Zika-related birth defects recorded by the CDC could include microcephaly, calcium deposits in the brain indicating possible brain damage, excess fluid in the brain cavities and surrounding the brain, absent or poorly formed brain structures, abnormal eye development, or other problems resulting from brain damage that affect nerves, muscles, and bones. The pregnancy losses encompass any miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination with evidence of birth defects.
