Zika Virus Outbreak and the Poor Brazilian Family Planning Program - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Editorial

Zika Virus Outbreak and the Poor Brazilian Family Planning Program

Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2016;38(12):583-584

DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1593411

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The National Family Planning Policy was created in Brazil in 2007. It includes offering eight free contraceptive methods (intrauterine device [IUD] with copper, progestogen-only pill, combined pill, monthly injectable, depot medroxypro-gesterone, diaphragm, male and female condoms) and also some other oral and injectable contraceptives at reduced prices at “popular” pharmacies. In the last decades, modern contraceptive methods have been developed, such as levo-norgestrel intrauterine system (IUS) and subdermal im-plants, but these are not accessible to the majority of the Brazilian population because they are not available (for free or at a low cost) in the national health system.

In 2015, a microcephaly outbreak began among Brazilian newborns, probably associated with the Zika virus. Brazilian authorities estimate that 1,5 million cases of Zika infection have occurred since the outbreak began, with almost 1,300 cases of microcephaly subsequent to prenatal infection during pregnancy. Although initially concentrated in the Northeast of Brazil, the virus has spread throughout South America, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. A published case series of 1,511 live newborn infants with suspected Zika virus infection occurred during pregnancy showed a sensi-tivity of 83% for microcephaly for diagnostic detection. However there are Publications that Added additional clini-cal characteristics, including severe intracranial calcifica-tions, severe cortical malformations, ventriculomegaly, cerebellar hypoplasia, and abnormal hypodensity of the white matter, but with normal head circumference, creating a necessary expansion of the concept to become congenital Zika virus syndrome.

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