The four-month-old baby girl in Dak Lak Province was confirmed to have a shrunken head due to the zika virus by health authorities on October 30. Photo by VTC
Head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, Tran Dac Phu, confirmed on Sunday that the four-month-old baby girl in the central highlands province of Dak Lak had a shrunken head due to the zika virus.
“Tests carried out in the country and in Japan have shown that the baby's head defect was caused by the Zika virus," Phu said. "This is the first such reported case in Vietnam so far."
According to the Ministry of Health, her ethnic minority mother in Krong Buk District suffered from high fever and broke out in the rash in the third month and sixth month of her pregnancy. The locality where she lives faced a dengue fever outbreak at that time.
The ministry has reported a total of eleven cases of Zika infection in Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen and Binh Duong, Dak Lak provinces and HCM City.
In a recent meeting aimed at finding measures to deal with Zika-related diseases, Phu warned that women intending to get pregnant should avoid affected areas.
