(P17-003-23) Effects of Congenital Zika Syndrome on Feeding and Growth: A Longitudinal Study

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe nutritional status and feeding practices in a cohort of children with Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) in Recife, Brazil.

Methods: This was a longitudinal, descriptive study of children with CZS (N=156). Research assistants administered a survey to parents to collect data on child feeding behaviors and measured children’s anthropometric status at five timepoints between 2018 and 2022. The average age of the children was 32.1 months at enrollment and 77 months at the 5^th timepoint.

Results: Based on weight-for-age z-scores, the percentage of children who were underweight or severely underweight increased from 42.5% to 45.4% over the four years. The percentage of children who were overweight or obese increased from 4.0% to 7.2%. The percentage of children with no control of their saliva increased from 51.9% to 71.7%. The percentage of children experiencing at least one symptom of dysphagia increased from 73.9% to 87.0% while consuming liquids and from 36.2% to 73.5% while consuming solids. For both liquids and solids, the most commonly reported symptoms were coughing and gagging. Dyspnea and cyanosis while consuming liquids decreased from 12.7% to 3.7% and 13.4% to 1.9%, respectively. Use of an alternative feeding method, such as nasogastric or gastronomy feeding tube, increased from 19.2% to 33.6%. In those children, use of an alternative method as the exclusive feeding method also increased from 73.3% to 86.3%.

Conclusions: These data point to the ongoing and increasing challenges of feeding young children with CZS. Our findings elucidate the physiological reasons children with CZS may be underweight and point to targets for intervention to improve their feeding practices and nutritional status.

Funding Sources: NIH Fogarty International Center