Chloe Leal - Scientists are Only Just Learning the Terrifying Longterm Toll for Babies with Zika

Scientists are Only Just Learning the Terrifying Longterm Toll for Babies with Zika - TIME
https://apple.news/AS-JaZ0TORJ-0190eh63sWw

‭This article follows the first study following babies born to Zika virus-infected mothers. Two years ago, Brazil announced the Zika virus outbreak as a public health emergency. Many of these babies ‬have congenital defects like microcephaly. The children face many developmental issues and will need specialized care as they grow up.

The widespread concern and attention that the outbreak of the Zika virus rightfully contracted because of how relatively little was known about it is similar to the diseases which were prevalent and deadly in early colonization of North America. Diseases of early America included yellow fever, malaria, and smallpox which wiped out the vast majority of all Native Americans who came in contact with the sick Europeans. We all know that there was next to no effective remedies or medicines to save people who contracted any illness and it was really the end of the road for them.
This study of babies born with microcephaly from Zika is incredibly important for the thousands of these children. It will assist the children as they grow and better equip us for any future cases, which is a luxury that those pre-nineteenth century didn’t have a chance of having.