Mexico has confirmed that out of its 121 total cases of Zika virus, 11 are pregnant women. The Zika virus is beginning to pop-up all around the world, and while its symptoms are not hugely problematic for everyone, it poses a big risk to pregnant women, whose babies can suffer from serious birth defects as a result of the virus.
According to Reuters, a health ministry report confirms that most cases of Zika in Mexico are centralized around the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. One of the infected pregnant women is form the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, indicating the virus is not contained to the southern states specifically.
The number of people infected with Zika has been on the rise since mid-February, when there were only 80 confirmed cases total. Six of these cases were pregnant women.
While little is known about Zika, it seems to have very few noticeable problematic symptoms in people who are not pregnant. However, there is a correlation between pregnant women with Zika and their children being born with microcephaly, a condition that results in the baby being born with an unusually small head.
This, of course, can lead to developmental problems later in the child’s life.
Given its relatively recent outbreak, it is still unknown whether or not Zika actually causes microcephaly or if there is some other factor at play here.
Whatever the case, there have been over 580 cases of microcephaly confirmed in Brazil. Most of them are currently considered to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is currently investigating 4,100 additional cases of microcephaly to look for a concrete link with Zika.