19-year-old Daryle Koltay was born with a diagnosis of microcephaly - from birth he had a very small head in the part where the brain is located. Most likely, the Zika virus, which now scares pregnant mothers all over the planet, was to blame for his condition.
Zika fever is an acute infectious disease in monkeys that is sometimes transmitted to humans through mosquitoes and is characterized by benign fever. The virus is most dangerous for pregnant women, as it causes microcephaly in the fetus with potential severe brain damage.
The tall Daryl, who is physically completely normal in everything except the head, has intellectual development stopped at the level of a 7-year-old child. It is difficult for him to walk, keeping balance, he cannot read and write, and he cannot express his emotions at all. He cannot even dress on his own and needs 24/7 care. But he can express his opinion about his condition.
- Being microcephalous is difficult, and the older you get, the worse and worse it gets.
His mother, Lisa, from St. Petersburg, Florida, believes her son's condition is caused by the Zika virus, as she was bitten by mosquitoes several times when she was pregnant. She said that she was completely emotionally devastated by the news that her son had microcephaly and that this would cause severe disabilities in his mental development.
- The pediatrician said that he can be paralyzed, lose sight, become deaf. After his birth, I had to constantly monitor his condition so that there was no vomiting, fainting and seizures, as otherwise this would mean increased brain pressure on the skull.
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Lisa Koltey, who has two more perfectly healthy children, has never left Florida, but she is sure that she was bitten by mosquitoes infected with Zika. After the bites, she had an unusual rash on her legs and was temporarily unwell. She is sure that this is why her son was born disabled.
When Daryl was still young, Lisa constantly tried to fight his illness. She even cut him all the time under the pot, since such a hairstyle made the upper part of the head visually not so shallow and "passers-by did not look back and did not examine his head."
Currently, Lisa and Daryl are collecting all possible assistance for the regions affected by Zika. These are kits for mothers with baby care items, medicines, vitamins and mosquito repellents. Lisa says she is proud of her son, as he is enthusiastically involved in helping other people, and that he has a purpose in life.
A large-scale outbreak of the Zika virus began in Brazil, where the virus entered in late 2013 and early 2014. However, it was discovered only two years later. The Zika virus is spreading rapidly throughout Latin America. WHO has declared it a global threat. At the same time, the virus is still poorly understood, and doctors still do not know exactly what diseases it can cause in people.
The Zika virus is believed to be associated with an increase in the number of newborns with microcephaly - a reduced brain. Several thousand children were born in Brazil with this diagnosis. At the same time, there is still no vaccine, so in a few years there will be many more people like Daryl Coltey living in the world than now.
According to the World Health Organization, isolated cases of Zika fever have been recorded in all parts of the world. The WHO does not exclude that in the future the scale of the epidemic will grow even more. In this regard, the organization intends to accelerate the study of the virus.
According to the latest news, the Zika virus has already reached Chile. According to Reuters, a 46-year-old woman who was diagnosed with the virus contracted it sexually. Her partner brought back fever from a trip to Haiti.
At the same time, the Chilean authorities reassure the population that mosquitoes that carry this disease - Aedes aegypti - have not been found in the country. All cases in this country have been infected with the virus while traveling abroad.
What is Zika virus?
It is a spreading mosquito-borne virus. It is characterized by a benign fever.
How does it spread?
The virus was first found in 1947 in rhesus monkeys that lived in the Ugandan Zika forest. The first case of infection was reported in Brazil in 2014. Since then, the Zika virus has kept the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean at bay.
Why is Zika virus dangerous?
The virus is most dangerous for pregnant women. Complications, especially microcephaly, are very dangerous. Children with microcephaly are underweight and short. They lag behind in mental and muscle development. Another danger posed by the Zika virus is the development of a rare autoimmune disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome.