Zika virus infection in pregnancy: a protocol for the joint analysis of the prospective cohort studies of the ZIKAlliance, ZikaPLAN and ZIKAction consortia.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in pregnancy has been associated with microcephaly and severe neurological damage to the fetus. Our aim is to document the risks of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes and the prevalence of laboratory markers of congenital infection in deliveries to women experiencing ZIKV infection during pregnancy, using data from European Commission-funded prospective cohort studies in 20 centres in 11 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. We will carry out a centre-by-centre analysis of the risks of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, comparing women with confirmed and suspected ZIKV infection in pregnancy to those with no evidence of infection in pregnancy. We will document the proportion of deliveries in which laboratory markers of congenital infection were present. Finally, we will investigate the associations of trimester of maternal infection in pregnancy, presence or absence of maternal symptoms of acute ZIKV infection and previous flavivirus infections with adverse outcomes and with markers of congenital infection. Centre-specific estimates will be pooled using a two-stage approach. Ethical approval was obtained at each centre. Findings will be presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed open access journals and discussed with local public health officials and representatives of the national Ministries of Health, Pan American Health Organization and WHO involved with ZIKV prevention and control activities.

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© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

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Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. The following authors report grants from the European Commission (AEA, EBB, NA, DB, TJ, KDR, CT, CDCC, AS-A, JGM, CG, Xd-L, AW-S); EBB reports funding from by Wellcome Trust & the UK’s Department for International Development; MT reports grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico, Brazil and from Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do EStado de MInas Gerais (FAPEMIG, Brazil), during the conduct of the study; MK has a patent on zika diagnostics pending.