Developmental abilities in children with Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS)

• Grant number: 19/03788-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2019
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Célia Maria Giacheti
• Grantee: Victoria Paola Nogueira Sales
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50909-8 - INCT 2014: Behavior, Cognition and Teaching (INCT-ECCE): relational learning and symbolic functioning, AP.TEM

Abstract

In 2015, the Health Department of Pernambuco notified the presence of a set of unusual characteristics in infants born with microcephaly. In later analyses, the Zika Vírus (ZIKV) genome long with anti-ZIKV antibodies (IgM) was found when analyzed the amniotic fluid of pregnant women whose fetuses were diagnosed with microcephaly. The specific phenotype of these children includes physical characteristics (eg., microcephaly, ocular malformations, arthrogryposis, spinal malformation) and neurological disorders (eg., cortical hypotrophy, microcalcifications in the brain tissue, ventriculomegaly) that cross the charts already described in the literature as congenital microcephaly, this group of unusual characteristics received the name of Congenital Zika Syndrome (SZC). Considering the large number of children affected throughout Brazil with SZC, it is important that the developmental abilities are described in detail to allow identification of this phenotype and, thus, possibilities of knowing the prognosis and possible interventions. The present work aims to investigate the neurodevelopmental abilities of children with SZC, born in the State of Ceará. To that end, 30 children up to 3 years of age will be evaluated using the following tests: Early Language Milstone Scale (ELM) and the Test Development Screening - DENVER II. The data obtained from this study will be analyzed through descriptive statistical analyzes and parametric or non-parametric tests using software SPSS (V.24).