Martinez Micaela Elvira
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America.
Global Health Program, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America.
PLoS Biol. 2016 Jul 28;14(7):e1002520. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002520. eCollection 2016 Jul.
It has come to light that Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy can result in trans-placental transmission to the fetus along with fetal death, congenital microcephaly, and/or Central Nervous System (CNS) malformations. There are projected to be >9,200,000 births annually in countries with ongoing ZIKV transmission. In response to the ZIKV threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) is strategically targeting prevention of infection in pregnant women and funding contraception in epidemic regions. I propose that the damaging effects of ZIKV can be reduced using a seasonal window of opportunity for conception that may minimize maternal exposure. Like other acute viral infections-including the related flavivirus, dengue virus (DENV)-the transmission of ZIKV is anticipated to be seasonal. By seasonally planning pregnancy, this aspect of pathogen ecology can be leveraged to align sensitive periods of gestation with the low-transmission season.
现已发现，孕期感染寨卡病毒（ZIKV）可导致病毒经胎盘传播给胎儿，同时伴有胎儿死亡、先天性小头畸形和/或中枢神经系统（CNS）畸形。预计在寨卡病毒持续传播的国家，每年有超过920万例分娩。为应对寨卡病毒威胁，世界卫生组织（WHO）策略性地致力于预防孕妇感染，并为流行地区的避孕措施提供资金支持。我提议，可以利用受孕的季节性时机来降低寨卡病毒的破坏作用，这可能会减少孕妇接触病毒的机会。与其他急性病毒感染（包括相关的黄病毒，登革热病毒（DENV））一样，预计寨卡病毒的传播具有季节性。通过按季节规划妊娠，可以利用病原体生态学的这一方面，使妊娠期的敏感期与低传播季节相匹配。
