Is the Zika panic over? Ethics of diagnosis and misdiagnosis
By Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatalethics
and Keyur Doolabh, Medical Student, Monash University
Towards the end of last year, and over the first months of 2016, there were alarming reports of the explosive spread of Zika virus infection in South America. As many as 1.5m Brazilians were thought to have contracted the virus. More, worrying still, there were reports of thousands of cases of congenital microcephaly – infants born with abnormally small heads because of brain damage in the womb. Each week there appeared to be more reports and larger numbers of infants affected.
But the latest estimates from Brazil have reversed this trend. Last week, the total number of confirmed and suspected cases of Zika microcephaly is reported to be 4,759, 500 less than two months ago.
Why are the numbers of cases falling? Does this mean that earlier reports about Zika were wrong? Is the Zika panic over?Read More »Is the Zika panic over? Ethics of diagnosis and misdiagnosis