Epidemic in Brazil: Families still suffer from Zika virus in north Brazil

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03:52

After a devastating outbreak in 2015, the Zika virus is no longer considered a public emergency in Brazil. But for thousands of Brazilian families, mostly in the country's poor northeast region, the impact of the virus lives on. CGTN's Lucrecia Franco reports.

Maria Giovanna has microcephaly, characterized by an abnormally small head. she can't walk, sit or talk and suffers from epilepsy. She has, what doctors now call, congenital Zika syndrome. Her mother, Gleyse, contracted Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, while she was pregnant in the peak of the 2015 outbreak.

GLEYSE KELLY ZIKA-CONTRACTED MOTHER "My life changed dramatically because I had to give up my job to dedicate myself entirely to her."

This is just one of the 450 confirmed cases of Zika syndrome in Brazil's hard-hit northeast state of Brunabuco. The result of an infection that, according to the latest official figures, caused birth defects in more than three-thousand Brazilian children.

LUCRECIA FRANCO RECIFE, BRAZIL "Children born with the congenital Zika syndrome are almost three years old now and they are struggling with severe physical and mental challenges. Doctors say that starting therapy early is critical."

At the Altino Ventura Foundation, a charity rehabilitation center in Pernambuco's capital, Recife, more than 150 children are being treated, another hundred are on the waiting list. Dr. Liana Ventura, head of the foundation, developed a series of therapies that have shown outstanding results.

DR. LIANA VENTURA HEAD OF ALTINO VENTURA FOUNDATION "Our team found out that babies that have been doing rehabilitation with a multi-disciplinary approach with this program that we developed, they develop 200% more than the babies that are not able to have access to this kind of therapies."

Guilherme, who has a milder form of microcephaly, is the only son of Germana Soares, president of a support group called Union of Mothers of Angels. She is convinced Zika was not the only culprit, but a larvicide that was used to fight Dengue disease in poor neighborhoods.

GERMANA SOARES PRESIDENT, UNION OF MOTHERS OF ANGELS "I believe I don't have proof. I am not a professional. I am not a researcher nor a scientist. I am a mother, a victim of all this and I believe these babies were poisoned."

A sudden drop in Zika syndrome cases after 2015, only 20 have been confirmed so far in 2018, is one of several issues that have critics suspecting other factors may be involved. But scientists at the Fiocruz Foundation in Recife, which first linked the syndrome with Zika, believe the virus has retreated because of what is known as "herd immunization".

SINVAL PINTO BRANDAO FIOCRUZ FOUNDATION "Several people that were susceptible were infected and among communicable diseases this is classic. There is a reduction of cases after a peak, but as time goes by, there will be new children, new people and possibly there will be a new wave."

No one knows for sure if Zika will return. For mothers, like Gleyse, the main concern now is that their children can have the best life possible. Lucrecia Franco, CGTN, Recife.