EW NEWS & OPINION
30
March 2016
by Ellen Stodola EyeWorld Staff Writer
people infected. Dr. Maia said that
currently there are only 2 Brazilian
states that have not reported cases
of Zika virus, and it's estimated that
by the end of 2016, there could be
4 million cases of Zika worldwide,
with half of these estimated in
Brazil.
One of the most talked about
side effects of the virus is microceph-
aly in babies whose mothers were
infected with Zika during pregnan-
cy. "The number of microcephalic
babies increased 20 fold from 2013
to 2015," Dr. Maia said.
One important finding that Dr.
Maia and his colleagues examined
was the presence of ocular lesions
linked to Zika. These lesions were
examined in babies with micro-
cephaly whose mothers had been
infected with the Zika virus.
The study sought to look at
whether there were ocular abnor-
malities in infants with microceph-
aly associated with presumed Zika
virus congenital infection. Ultimate-
ly, the researchers found that there
Researchers in Brazil
have been studying ocular
manifestations in those
infected with Zika virus
T
he spread of the Zika virus
is a hot topic today, with a
number of countries around
the world, particularly in
Latin and South America,
affected. The virus is spread by the
Aedes aegypti mosquito. Mauricio
Maia, MD, PhD, Federal University
of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, and
others recently published a study in
JAMA Ophthalmology on effects that
Zika virus may have on the eye.
1
Dr. Maia also presented information
at the recent 2016 World Ophthal-
mology Congress in Guadalajara,
Mexico at a late-breaking news
session and spoke to EyeWorld about
the topic.
This is a very important topic,
he said. The first case in Brazil was
described 2 years ago, and now the
country has more than 1 million
Zika virus and its
ocular indications
A close-up of macular atrophic change. This is one of the ocular indications
researchers found in some of those infected by Zika after ruling out a number
of other conditions.
Source: Mauricio Maia, MD, PhD
continued on page 33
