First case of pregnant woman with Zika in Singapore

SINGAPORE: A pregnant woman is among another 24 cases of Zika infections confirmed as of noon on Wednesday.

The pregnant patient lives in the Aljunied area. A member of her household had earlier been diagnosed with Zika.

Doctors are following up closely with her and are monitoring the development of the baby, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a briefing on Wednesday night.

It is unlikely that a member of the woman's household infected her or vice versa, because the symptoms emerged around the same time, health experts said at the briefing.

While 22 of the new cases are from the existing cluster at Aljunied, two have no known links to the affected areas of Sims Drive, Aljunied Crescent, Paya Lebar Way and Kallang Way.

One case lives in Joo Seng Road while another lives at Punggol Way.

There is also a new potential cluster at Bedok North Avenue 3, MOH said.

The three cases there were diagnosed on Tuesday.

Of those cases, one has a link to the earlier Kallang Way cluster but lives in Bedok North. Two have no known links to the earlier clusters.

In addition to the 24 latest cases, nine cases were detected in MOH's look-back testing of previous cases.

This brings the total number of cases identified since Saturday to 115.

MOH said it expects more cases to emerge in other areas.

"Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas. We must work and plan on the basis that there is Zika transmission in other parts of Singapore," Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in a statement.

Vector control remains the main approach in reducing the spread of Zika, and will be extended to other parts of Singapore.

MOH will continue to pay particular attention to pregnant women, it said.

MOH earlier advised all pregnant women who develop fever and rash, along with other signs of possible Zika infection such as red eyes or joint pain, to test for the virus.

Singapore's Zika Clinical Advisory Group was unanimous about offering free testing to pregnant women islandwide with Zika symptoms.

This is regardless of whether they have been to Zika-affected areas. Those whose male partners have contracted the virus are also urged to get tested.

Testing after referral by a doctor is free at public healthcare institutions, MOH said.

The mosquito-borne disease's symptoms are generally mild in adults, but it can cause birth defects in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy.

A major birth defect associated with Zika is microcephaly, or an extremely small head.

Between 1 per cent and 10 per cent of pregnant women infected with Zika have babies with birth defects, including brain damage, studies have found. The Straits Times/Asia News Network