Baby

New Zika Studies Reveal Invisible Damage to Babies

That means babies who may seem normal may in fact suffer from serious conditions that parents and doctors may not notice until they get older

Zika virus causes different types of brain damage in babies, not just microcephaly, according to two new reports.

Brazilian researchers found as many as one in five babies born with brain damage caused by Zika had normal-sized heads, NBC News reports. That means babies who may seem normal may in fact suffer from serious conditions that parents and doctors may not notice until they get older.

Worse, one study confirms that many of the pregnant women whose babies were affected didn't have the obvious symptoms of Zika, such as a rash. The virus is known to cause invisible infections in most people who catch it — usually good news, but that's bad news for pregnant women who may not know anything is amiss until their babies start showing symptoms as they grow.

And the study also found that even late in pregnancy, babies can suffer brain damage caused by Zika. In other words, there's no stage of pregnancy that's safe.

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