Planning for health needs of Zika virus babies needs to start now: UNICEF

As health officials across Latin America scramble to contain the outbreak of the Zika virus, the United Nations children’s agency says health officials must start planning for healthcare needs of affected children and their families now.

The virus, believed to be linked to babies born with abnormally small heads (microcephaly) and birth defects in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in the Americas.

Registered cases of microcephaly in newborn babies in Brazil have soared to 4,180 between 22 October 2015 and 26 January 2016. In 2014, there were 147 cases across the whole country, said UNICEF officials.

“Children with microcephaly are going to require special care their entire lives,” said Meg French, Chief of International Programs and Public Affairs at UNICEF Canada. “It definitely needs to be planned for immediately because the care begins right away.”

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Children born with microcephaly will have life-long health problems, including seizures, developmental delays, hearing and vision loss, and they have a drastically decreased life expectancy, French said.

In addition to its prevention efforts, UNICEF is supporting national authorities to help them determine how they can increase their capacity to care for families affected by Zika and how they can manage the healthcare for children who are born with microcephaly and ensure that they also have the social protection and get the early childhood development and nutrition care they will need, French said.

While the surge in microcephaly has so far only been reported in Brazil, UNICEF is also scaling up its support to other countries in the region, said French.

UNICEF is launching a nearly $9 million appeal for its programs to limit the spread of the virus and mitigate its impact on newborns and their families across the region, she said.               

UNICEF found that its expertise in dealing with other mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, can be very useful in combatting the spread of Zika virus, French said.

“We’re working with communities in order to teach them how to avoid mosquito bites, how to reduce mosquito breeding sites, using mosquito nets, mosquito repellent, wearing loose long clothing and also making sure they get rid of any standing water where mosquitos breed,” French said. “At this point the best thing we can do is to stop people from being infected with the virus in the first place.”