Two pregnant women in B.C. have tested positive for the Zika virus and they are among seven people in the province who have been affected. It has been confirmed that Zika virus causes microcephaly, a birth defect that causes babies to have unusually small heads. Dr. Deborah Money, a professor at UBC’s department of obstetrics and gynaecology with expertise on reproductive infectious diseases, speaks to CBC’s On the Coast.
“It appears that women who have symptoms of Zika virus particularly if they acquire it in the first trimester may have as high as a 25 per cent risk of their baby being affected by it,” she said. “Unfortunately we don’t have a treatment for Zika virus at present; we don’t have medications or vaccines that actually work against this virus so we’re left with trying to understand the severity of the infection or if it looks like a fetus is affected.”
Segment starts at 1:40:00.
Dr. Money also appeared on Global, CBC All Points West, CBC Radio West, and others.
