Zika virus now linked to hearing loss in babies, study finds

Doctors are now adding hearing loss to the growing list of health problems linked to Zika infections in babies.

The virus is already known to cause microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development, among other serious health problems.

In a study of 69 Zika-infected babies with severe microcephaly, about 6 per cent showed hearing loss, according to a study from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention released on Thursday.

The babies were born between November and May and were treated at the Hospital Agamenon Magalhaes in Recife, Brazil, the city at the epicentre of the Zika outbreak in that country.

A number of other viruses are known to cause hearing loss in babies infected prenatally. These viruses include rubella, also known as German measles; genital herpes; syphilis; and cytomegalovirus, a type of herpes virus. Each of these can also cause microcephaly.

“If the hearing loss caused by Zika follows the same pattern seen in these other viral infections, the hearing loss will be permanent,” said James Bale, Jnr, professor of paediatric neurology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.