Page 27 - ATA 26 FEB 2016
P. 27
WORLD NEWS A11
Friday 26 February 2016
Some experts contend Brazil is exaggerating Zika crisis
J. BARCHFIELD And how can conclusions Brazilian and U.S. health workers from the United States’ Centers the virus was found after
P. PRENGAMAN be drawn from govern- for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) talk with a resident as fetal or newborn deaths.
Associated Press ment statistics that are they search for mothers and infants to recruit for a study aimed Still, despite the heavy-
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — flawed and possibly vastly at determining whether the Zika virus is causing babies to be weight support and anec-
Often drowned out by the underreported in the past, born with a birth defect affecting the brain in Joao Pessoa, Bra- dotal evidence, some crit-
dire warnings and fear sur- before Brazilian officials re- zil, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. ics are not satisfied.
rounding Zika, some medi- quired doctors to report mi- Luis Correia, who teaches
cal professionals are say- crocephaly cases? (AP Photo/Andre Penner) scientific method at the
ing that Brazil and interna- In an article published Bahia School of Medicine
tional health officials have Wednesday by the An- fectious Diseases, told a Wednesday. He cited sev- and Public Health, said the
prematurely declared a nals of Internal Medicine, U.S. Senate committee eral published cases where small-scale studies cited by
link between the virus and 14 Brazilian and American health officials don’t equal
what appears to be a researchers said the link proof.
surge in birth defects. between Zika and micro- “There appears to be a sort
A few even argue that the cephaly “remains pre- of scientific illiteracy within
Brazilian government is be- sumptive.” The strongest the ministry that has led
ing irresponsible, given that evidence is circumstantial, them to mix up association
a connection hasn’t been they said, and there are with causality,” said Cor-
scientifically proven be- challenges in confirming reia. “They are confusing
tween the mosquito-borne the connection. hypothesis with fact.”
virus and the birth defect But Brazilian Health Minister Correia compared the
known as microcephaly, Marcelo Castro recently situation to finding a by-
which causes infants to be said he was “absolutely stander at the scene of a
born with abnormally small sure” of a causal link be- murder.q
heads. tween Zika and microceph-
“It’s a global scandal. Brazil aly. He and other scientific
has created a worldwide experts around the world
panic,” said Alexandre have pointed to studies
Dias Porto Chiavegatto that detected the pres-
Filho, a professor of epide- ence of Zika in the brains
miology at the University of of dead fetuses and in the
Sao Paulo, placentas of babies diag-
one of the most-respected nosed with microcephaly
universities in Latin Amer- in the womb.
ica. “I’m not saying that While visiting Brazil on
Zika is not causing micro- Wednesday, Margaret
cephaly, but I am saying Chan, director-general of
that the ministry has yet to the World Health Organi-
present any scientifically zation, said microcephaly
credible evidence to sup- can be caused by many
port that conclusion.” things but that her organi-
Chiavegatto and others zation was affirming that
argue there are still too “Zika is responsible (for it in
many unanswered ques- Brazil) until evidence to the
tions to blame Zika. Why contrary emerges.” And
are the vast majority of the the Atlanta-based Centers
cases of microcephaly be- for Disease Control and
ing reported in Brazil? Why Prevention has warned
haven’t they also shown pregnant women against
up in proportional num- traveling to more than 30
bers in other countries hit destinations where the virus
hard by Zika, such as Co- has been registered, most
lombia? (The answer, some in Latin America.
say, is that Brazil was hit by Every week, the evidence
Zika first, and microcephaly is “getting stronger and
cases might be expected stronger,” Dr. Anthony Fau-
to crest elsewhere in the ci, director of the National
months ahead.) Institute of Allergy and In-
