At The Heart Of An Outbreak: How Parents And Doctors In Brazil Are Coping With Zika
A Los Angeles Times reporter takes readers to the frontline of the outbreak.
Los Angeles Times:
On The Frontline Of Brazil’s War With Zika, A Mother’s First Question: ‘How Big Is The Head?’
It’s 7:30 a.m. and the hallway outside the neurosurgeon’s office at the Pedro I Municipal Hospital is filling with mothers and their babies. The women arrive with questions: Will their children ever learn to walk? Will they ever speak? The doctor, Alba Batista, wishes she had answers. She used to see two, maybe three cases of microcephaly a year. But since December, more than 40 newborns with the condition — an abnormally small skull, often with an underdeveloped brain — have shown up at Pedro I. (Zavis, 4/21)
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., senators are hopeful that a Zika funding agreement may be in sight —
The Associated Press:
Senate GOP Shoots For Quick Action On Zika Funding Bill
Democrats say top GOP lawmakers are proposing to partially fund President Barack Obama’s request for money to fight the Zika virus. The $1.1 billion measure circulating Wednesday comes in advance of an Appropriations panel meeting on Thursday and was being worked on with Democrats in hopes of winning their support. The measure has not been finalized and is part of continuing negotiations. The money would be used to try to slow the spread of the Zika virus and develop a vaccine against it. (Taylor, 4/20)