Neurological Findings in Children without Congenital Microcephaly Exposed to Zika Virus in Utero: A Case Series Study

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 12; no. 11; p. 1335
• Main Authors: Abtibol-Bernardino, Marília Rosa, de Almeida Peixoto, Lucíola de Fátima Albuquerque, de Oliveira, Geruza Alfaia, de Almeida, Tatiane Freitas, Rodrigues, Gabriela Ribeiro Ivo, Otani, Rodrigo Haruo, Soares Chaves, Beatriz Caroline, de Souza Rodrigues, Cristina, de Andrade, Anny Beatriz Costa Antony, de Fatima Redivo, Elijane, Fernandes, Salete Sara, da Costa Castilho, Marcia, Gomes Benzecry, Silvana, Bôtto-Menezes, Camila, Martinez-Espinosa, Flor Ernestina, Costa Alecrim, Maria das Graças
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.11.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; arbovirus; Asymmetry; Autism; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cognition; coinfection; Congenital diseases; congenital Zika syndrome; Epidemics; Epilepsy; Female; Fetuses; Hearing loss; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; infant health; Infections; Intrauterine exposure; Laboratories; Language; Macrocephaly; Male; Microcephaly; Mothers; Motor task performance; Nervous system; Neurodevelopment; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders - diagnosis; Neurodevelopmental Disorders - virology; Neurologic Examination; Neurological complications; Neurological diseases; Paresis; Pediatrics; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - virology; Standard deviation; Womens health; Young Adult; Zika virus; Zika Virus - pathogenicity; Zika Virus Infection - complications; Zika Virus Infection - physiopathology; Brazil; Bayley III; congenital Zika syndrome; infant health; neurodevelopment; Zika virus; neurologic manifestations; coinfection; autism; arbovirus; non-microcephalic children
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v12111335

The Zika virus can induce a disruptive sequence in the fetal brain and is manifested mainly by microcephaly. Knowledge gaps still exist as to whether the virus can cause minor disorders that are perceived later on during the first years of life in children who are exposed but are asymptomatic at birth. In this case series, we describe the outcomes related to neurodevelopment through the neurological assessment of 26 non-microcephalic children who had intrauterine exposure to Zika virus. Children were submitted for neurological examinations and Bayley Scales-III (cognition, language, and motor performance). The majority (65.4%) obtained satisfactory performance in neurodevelopment. The most impaired domain was language, with 30.7% impairment. Severe neurological disorders occurred in five children (19.2%) and these were spastic hemiparesis, epilepsy associated with congenital macrocephaly (Zika and human immunodeficiency virus), two cases of autism (one exposed to Zika and ) and progressive sensorineural hearing loss ( mutation). We concluded that non-microcephalic children with intrauterine exposure to Zika virus, in their majority, had achieved satisfactory performance in all neurodevelopmental domains. One third of the cases had some impairment, but the predominant group had mild alterations, with low occurrence of moderate to severe disorders, similar to other studies in Brazil.