Some babies infected with the zika virus are apparently born normal but then, as they develop, they have a smaller head than the regular size, called microcephaly.
The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied 13 cases of infants from Brazil, whose mothers had zika during their pregnancy.
Of these, 11 later developed microcephaly and the abnormally slow growth of the head was accompanied by serious neurological complications.
Researchers already knew that zika could cause microcephaly and brain development problems even when there were no external signs of microcephaly, but the new work is the first to show a development of symptoms after birth.
Microcephaly may not be evident at birth but it could be developed later with underlying brain abnormalities,”
stated the study.
However, not all children born after being exposed to zika develop that kind of problems, and the study does not show the incidence of the possible future abnormalities.