The Zika Virus: The Cause Of Pregnancy

The Zika Virus, an epidemic that has increased the risk of pregnancy for women has been known to be the cause of fetal birth defects. The mode of transmission starts from the mother, which then is followed by the pathogen entering through the placenta and into the amniotic fluid. Much research has been conducted since the epidemic and different researchers and institutions are developing and discovering why the Zika Virus not only complicates pregnancy but also causes a risk for women trying to become pregnant. One research study conducted at Yale University focuses on how the Zika virus affects the placenta. The placenta plays a very important role in fetal development, it provides oxygen and nutrients while also extracting waste. The focus
Erol Fikrig, MD, is a “professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and of Microbial Pathogenesis” (Fikrig) at Yale University. According to Fikrig, his main study is on vector-borne diseases. His “studies are directed toward understanding Lyme diseases, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis and West Nile Virus” (Fikrig). Fikrig has many publications in which he has taken part in; they range from discovering the mode of transmission of the Zika Virus to the placenta and also how the “zika virus productively infects primary human placenta- specific macrophages”
This particular case study, was used by Dr. Erol Fikrig in his second research study on the Zika Virus. This study focuses on a woman who was a volunteer in Natal, Brazil, who travelled to the “department of perinatology at the University Medical Center in Ljubljana, Slovenia” (N Eng. J Med). When she returned to Slovenia, she appeared with noticeable symptoms such as “high fever, which was followed by sever muscoskeletal and retroocular pain and itching, and generalized maculopapular rash” (N Eng. J Med). Since the woman was coming from a place that has high rates of Zika Virus, researchers believed she may have been in contact with the Zika Virus. Multiple test and studies were done to see what was happening to the fetus and why there was a decrease in fetal movement. Placenta weight and ammonitic fluid were normal but there were clear signs of microcephaly which proved the suspicions of the woman being in contact with the virus. As a result, the pregnancy had to be terminated in her wishes, and autopsy’s and examinations such as the CNS- central nervous system examination were completed. It was determined that if the fetus did not show signs of microcephaly, it could have been ruled that the fetus was healthy considering everything was normal such as the amniotic fluid. The problem was that the woman had come