Zika virus infects fetal tissues by vertical transmission, replicates, induces inflammation and ultrastructural changes

Zika fever is an arbovirus caused by the Zika virus (ZIKV) that had its epidemic potential between 2015 and 2017, with a strong focus on the Americas, and a relationship between cases of Zika with increased diagnoses of Guillain Barré Syndrome and congenital effects, called Congenital Zika Syndrome and miscarriage cases. Thus, vertical transmission was a potent cause of concern about the spread of the virus in the country. According to the Epidemiological Bulletin of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, between 2015 and 2022, 239 infant deaths were recorded as a result of infection by the virus through vertical transmission.