Another pregnant woman with Zika being monitored

Officials in the Ministry of Health are currently monitoring another pregnant woman who has tested positive for the Zika virus.

This new case adds to the 40 or so confirmed cases of Zika here in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and brings to two, the number of confirmed cases of Zika in a pregnant woman.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Simone Keizer-Beache {{more}}stated that the two pregnant women are being followed and monitored.

“Those persons are being followed in terms of counselling, in terms of diagnostic studies from ultrasonography to detect if possible…to pick up abnormalities.”

According to Keizer-Beache, the main purpose of the monitoring and testing is to provide support, so that the pregnant women would be psychologically prepared for the possible outcome of their pregnancy.

She noted that since there has been a link between Zika and microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with underdeveloped heads, the ministry is closely monitoring the situation, as well as monitoring for other birth defects.

“So, we provide ultrasound monitoring and persons are registered with the obstetricians to be followed throughout the pregnancy and because of the fact that Zika has been associated with not just microcephaly, but also with problems with vision and hearing, the policy is that we will continue following the babies born to persons with confirmed Zika because of the possibility.

“This is a new disease in our region, so we need to follow to see what happens. So, we are not only going to test for microcephaly, we are also going to test for visual problems and hearing problems and whatever else might be coming up,” the CMO added.

However, while the link has been made, Minister of Health Luke Browne noted that the probability of a Zika infected woman having a child with microcephaly is low.

“The chances of getting microcephaly, should the link be in fact there, as some studies indicate, would be really very small. I don’t think that it is going to be something in terms of numbers that has an overwhelming effect on the Vincentian population,” Browne opined.

However, he noted that if there is a case of microcephaly that could have been prevented, that would be one case too many.

The minister also stated that while a link has been made between the virus and microcephaly, the ministry is allowing persons to come to their own decisions on whether or not to have children, given the present situation.

The minster indicated that since the rainy season began, the cases of Zika have increased and as such, they have adjusted their policy as it relates to the virus.

“Now that we have established there is Zika in St Vincent and the Grenadines, it’s no longer a case where we have to sort of religiously keep check of every single person who is infected by Zika. Because it is here, we have to fight it; we fight it to the extent possible and we try to minimize transmission.”

He added that unlike before when they were only doing laboratory testing, they now are taking a more clinical approach in confirming cases of Zika. (CM)