Name: CAMILA GIUBERTI DE SOUZA
Publication date: 14/12/2020
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| REYNALDO DIETZE | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| FAUSTO EDMUNDO LIMA PEREIRA | Internal Examiner * |
| REYNALDO DIETZE | Advisor * |
| RODRIGO RIBEIRO RODRIGUES | Internal Examiner * |
Summary: Zika virus (ZIKV) is Flaviviridae family member virus, transmitted mainly by Aedes
mosquitoes. In early 2015, the first cases of autochthonous transmission of Zika in
Brazil were confirmed and the infection, during pregnancy, has been associated with
a spectrum of congenital malformations, the most striking being microcephaly. Many
aspects of ZIKV infection are not clear yet, so it is crucial to conduct studies that
target aspects of mother-to-child transmission and the long-term monitoring of
children prenatally exposed to ZIKV. Thus, the present study aimed to understand
virological and immunological aspects of ZIKV infection during pregnancy and its
impact on the first years of life of congenitally ZIKV exposed infants, through a cohort
of 58 suspected cases of Zika infection during pregnancy, occurred in Espírito Santo,
Brazil, between 2015 and 2017. Our results show that after a ZIKV infection during
second trimester of pregnancy, virus can still be detected in postpartum breast milk,
however with no evidence of transmission to breastfed newborns. In addition, we
demonstrate here that ZIKV infection during pregnancy does not impair the efficiency
of maternal-fetal transference of antibodies the specific for ZIKV and flavivirus, and
those vaccine-elicited which plays an important role for the neonate protection.
Furthermore, we observed that children congenitally exposed to ZIKV, without
microcephaly at birth, present higher prevalence of cerebral anomalies on head
imaging at birth, which supports the performance of these exams, even when the
child does not present microcephaly. However, non-microcephalic congenitally
exposed ZIKV infants present normal cognitive development within the first 2.5 years
of life. Finally, we contributed to the development of a viral antigen that has much
potential to be used in simple diagnostic platforms and can overcome the cross
reactions limitations of current serological tests.
