Findings in asymptomatic neonates without microcephaly or
evident neurological abnormalities on initial clinical examination
Of the 511 women with ZIKV in the region, there were 470 live-born
infants with no microcephaly or other evident neurological findings
detected at birth on physical exam. The subsample of 280 (59.6%)
infants that were cared for at our hospital, had one or more additional
assessments done. Except for maternal age, the 280 infants that were
followed up, and their mothers, were not different at baseline from
those that were not followed up, suggesting that they are representative
of the entire cohort (Table S3). None of 244 tested infants failed the
hearing screening. Of the 155 infants submitted to the ophthalmologic
exam, two (1.3%) had ZIKV-related findings: glaucoma or focal
epithelium pigment mottling. Of the 207(73.9%) infants submitted to
cranial ultrasonography, one (0.5%) had major findings potentially
related to ZIKV infection while 47(22.7%) had minor features. Seventeen
of the 199 infants with a neurological evaluation within 3 months of age
had a possible abnormality but a normal cranial ultrasonography. One of
them had Down syndrome but no underlying comorbidities were detected in
the remaining 16(8.0%) infants. The maternal ZIKV-infection occurred in
the first trimester in 11(57.9%) of the 19 infants with subclinical
abnormalities; the rest were in the second trimester. ZIKV-IgM was
negative in all 13 infants tested.