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Editorial
July 2018

Uncovering the Spectrum of Postnatal Zika Infection in Children

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora
  • 2Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
  • 3Center for Global Health, Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora
JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(7):624-625. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.0921

The continental epidemic of Zika virus that spread like wildfire from Brazil in 2015, leaving 5676 symptomatic Zika cases reported in the US mainland and 37 190 cases in its territories, has become almost extinct in 2018.1 In these past 2 years, the scientific and public health communities have learned several invaluable lessons for our response to this epidemic, including (1) that Zika virus was not only a vector-borne pathogen but also one that could be efficiently transmitted from human to human by body fluids2; (2) that its neurotropism led to a 2-fold to 3-fold increase in the incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome; and (3) that 5% to 10% of infections in pregnancy resulted in congenital Zika syndrome.3,4

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