Current opinion in infectious diseases
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Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2016
ReviewZika virus infection: epidemiology, clinical manifestations and diagnosis.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus previously believed to cause only a mild and self-limiting illness. Recently, it has emerged as a new public health threat that caused a large outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013-2014 and since 2015 an explosive outbreak in Brazil, with an increase in severe congenital malformations (microcephaly) and neurological complications, mainly Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Since then, it has spread through the Americas. On 1 February 2016, the WHO declared the ZIKV epidemic in Brazil a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. We reviewed the epidemiology of ZIKV infection, clinical presentations and diagnosis. We highlighted the clinical features and nonvector borne transmission of the virus. ⋯ The findings illustrate the emergence of a viral disease with the identification of new associated disorders, new modes of transmission, including maternal-foetal and sexual transmission.