Once upon a time, Mia and her friend Laila were outside on a hot and sunny day in May.
Mia was discussing how excited she was about her pregnancy because she was having twins and would be due in a month
Due to the hot climate and where Mia lived, Venezuela, there were many mosquitos out in the area
While Mia was talking a mosquito landed on her hand and bit her.
but little did Mia know this mosquito was carrying the Zika Virus
Mia did not experience any symptoms of Zika which are generally mild including rashes, fevers, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headaches.
So she went on with her everyday activities and outings
One day as Mia is watching the new, the broadcaster stated how there has been an increase in reports of people were becoming ill from the Zika Virus transferred from mosquitos to humans through mosquito bites
during Mia's routine checkup with her doctor about her pregnancy, she mentioned how she was bit by a mosquito and she was worried it could be apart of the Zika virus
the doctor took a blood and urine test and...
I am very sorry to inform you, Mrs. Richards but you did test positive for Zika
Due to Mia being pregnant, the doctor had to inform her that the virus will be passed to her children and that now she was at risk for having a miscarriage
The babies are at risk for Congenital Zika syndrome
Congenital Zika syndrome is a pattern of birth defects and disabilities found among babies infected with Zika virus during pregnancy. Many of these defects seen as part of congenital Zika syndrome can be caused by other infections during pregnancy, but there is a pattern of the defects/disabilities below that are termed with congenital Zika syndrome: - Severe microcephaly where the skull has partially collapsed- Decreased brain tissue with a specific pattern of brain damage- Damage (i.e., scarring, pigment changes) to the back of the eye-Joints with limited range of motion, such as clubfoot- Too much muscle tone restricting body movement soon after birth
ONE MONTH LATER.....
Due to the virus, Mia sadly lost one twin at birth but the other baby was born.
From the birth defect Mia's baby experiences seizures and feeding problems. As Mia's child ages, he will have developmental delays such as speech, sitting, walking, or standing
Mia's baby was born with microcephaly. Microcephaly is a birth defect where the baby's head is smaller than expected compared to other babies of the same sex and gender.
Most and more recent cases of Zika carrying mosquitos are in Venezuela and Brazil, Colombia. It is possibly for this disease to spread from mosquitos to people as people travel to these countries during the warmer seasons. One one person is infected they could bring the disease back to their homes. This virus can spread from blood transfusions, sexual intercourse, and ,as shown in the story, a persons offspring