In:

Eurosurveillance

Authors:

M Besnard, S Lastèr, A Teissier, V M Cao-Lormea, D Musso

A Zika virus (ZIKAV) outbreak started in October 2013 in French Polynesia, South Pacific. We describe here the clinical and laboratory features of two mothers and their newborns who had ZIKAV infection as confirmed by ZIKAV RT-PCR performed on serum collected within four days post-delivery in date. The infants’ infection most probably occurred by transplacental transmission or during delivery. Attention should be paid to ZIKAV-infected pregnant women and their newborns, as data on the impact on them are limited.

Since October 2013, French Polynesia has experienced the largest outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKAV) infection ever reported, with an estimate of 28,000 ZIKAV infections in early February 2014 (about 11% of the population). We report here evidence of perinatal transmission of ZIKAV in French Polynesia in December 2013 and February 2014.

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