Zika Virus Infection during Pregnancy and Effects on Early Childhood Development, French Polynesia, 2013-2016

Abstract

Congenital Zika virus syndrome consists of a large spectrum of neurologic abnormalities seen in infants infected with Zika virus in utero. However, little is known about the effects of Zika virus intrauterine infection on the neurocognitive development of children born without birth defects. Using a case-control study design, we investigated the temporal association of a cluster of congenital defects with Zika virus infection. In a nested study, we also assessed the early childhood development of children recruited in the initial study as controls who were born without known birth defects,. We found evidence for an association of congenital defects with both maternal Zika virus seropositivity (time of infection unknown) and symptomatic Zika virus infection during pregnancy. Although the early childhood development assessment found no excess burden of developmental delay associated with maternal Zika virus infection, larger, longer-term studies are needed.

Keywords: French Polynesia; Pacific Islands; Zika virus infection; child health; congenital Zika syndrome; early childhood development; viruses.

Figure 1

Flowchart for the recruitment of eligible cases for study of Zika virus infection during pregnancy and effects on early childhood development, French Polynesia, 2013–2016.

Figure 2

Geographic distribution of eligible cases for study of Zika virus infection during pregnancy and effects on early childhood development, French Polynesia, 2013–2016. Black text indicates islands with >1 case (number of cases from each island is in parentheses); gray text indicates names of archipelagoes. Inset shows the location of French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Data source: GADM version 2.8 (https://gadm.org/download_country_v2.html). Map production: World Health Organization Health Emergencies Programme.