Congenital Zika Syndrome: investigation of the neurodevelopmental profile from a prospective and multicentric cohort

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging virus in Brazil, which can lead to the development of a rash illness, often associated with low-grade fever, fatigue, myalgia and conjunctivitis. The ZIKV is also related to severe neurological complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, and fetal abnormalities such as microcephaly. However, the crucial risk factors to the development of these severe manifestations are not yet known. Thus, the main objective of this study is identified, describe and quantify the spectrum of congenital manifestations affecting neurodevelopment associated with inflammatory and immunological biomarkers and risk factors that may be involved with the teratogenic role of this virus. For this purpose we will investigate a number of children exposed to ZIKV during prenatal, including those with congenital Zika's syndrome, and children without sequelae. Therefore, we will evaluate immunological variations in order to characterize immunological polymorphisms that confer greater or lesser susceptibility to this teratogenic effect of ZIKV. Additionally, we will investigate the role of inflammatory biomarkers and characterize the pattern of neurodevelopment of ZIKV-exposed children in this multicentric prospective cohort study. (AU)