Maternal and fetal health is at the forefront of concerns about the spread of Zika. The fetal brain defects known to be linked to the virus are devastating – and may only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the virus’s impact, according to a panel of high level U.S. government officials speaking at the Wilson Center on May 24.

Rear Admiral Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Zika can cause microcephaly and other fetal brain defects, but research into further effects continues. “We don’t yet know whether babies that are born looking healthy following a Zika infection will continue to develop normally.”

“Microcephaly may be just the most obvious, gross manifestation of the effects and there are a lot of other things…that [may] be detrimental to the developing fetus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He pointed out that fetuses affected by Zika have a variety of other identified issues such as “retinal eye problems [and] deafness.”

In order to help fill these gaps in knowledge, the CDC has created a pregnancy registry in the United States and another in Puerto Rico. “With those registries we hope to follow women and their babies longer term so that we can understand and give families good information about what to expect,” said Schuchat.

On a similar front, the NIH has partnered with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for a study tracking 10,000 pregnant women. This study may help to uncover when fetuses are most at risk to the harmful effects of Zika. “The first trimester is always the most vulnerable with regard to deleterious effects on the fetus, but we have some concerning evidence that there has been transmission…well into the second trimester and beyond,” said Fauci.

Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should visit their health care providers in order to get a test after visiting regions where Zika is spreading, said Schuchat. Similarly, due to the sexual transmission risk of Zika, men who have returned from regions with Zika are encouraged to practice safe sex for up to eight weeks, or for the duration of pregnancy if their partner is pregnant.

In the absence of a vaccine, access to safe and effective contraception is an important facet to mitigating the harmful effects of Zika on the macro scale. “In Puerto Rico, two out of three pregnancies aren’t planned and in the U.S. one out of two isn’t planned,” said Schuchat. These numbers highlight the unmet need for access to and education about contraception and family planning.

A rapid and comprehensive response is particularly urgent considering the lifelong impacts Zika can have on developing fetuses. “When the risk is to your developing baby, that trumps everything,” said Schuchat.

Watch the full archived webcast on WilsonCenter.org.