Andrea Pardo of Issaquah, Wash., was tested for the Zika virus in October 2016 after returning from Mexico. The results, which were ready in December and suggested the possibility she'd contracted the virus, were not given to her until April 2017, according to Kaiser Health News.
After receiving a blood test that was negative for Zika in Mexico, Ms. Pardo returned to the U.S., where she was tested for the virus again — 16 weeks into her pregnancy. Ms. Pardo tested positive for the Dengue virus, which is a flavivirus like Zika. Dengue and Zika can cross-react in tests, meaning officials could not be sure whether Ms. Pardo had contracted Zika at some point. Ms. Pardo was not notified of the situation until 37 weeks into her pregnancy, shortly before the birth of her daughter. The child has not displayed any signs of Zika-related defects thus far.
The test results were reportedly mishandled at the Seattle-based UW Medicine clinic where Ms. Pardo was treated. Timothy Dellit, MD, an infectious disease expert with UW Medicine, contacted Ms. Pardo to apologize for the error.
"I apologized for the fact that test results were not given to her back in December. It was just an unfortunate way those tests were handled," Dr. Dellit told Kaiser Health News.
Earlier this year, three Washington, D.C., residents retested positive for Zika after previously botched tests conducted in 2016 indicated they were not infected with the virus. One of the residents was pregnant at the time of the faulty test.
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