The Microcephaly Epidemic Research Group Paediatric Cohort (MERG–PC): A Cohort Profile

This cohort profile aims to describe the ongoing follow-up of children in the Microcephaly Epidemic Research Group Paediatric Cohort (MERG–PC). The profile details the context and aims of the study, study population, methodology including assessments, and key results and publications to date. The children that make up MERG–PC were born in Recife or within 120 km of the city, in Pernambuco/Brazil, the epicentre of the microcephaly epidemic. MERG–PC includes children from four groups recruited at different stages of the ZIKV microcephaly epidemic in Pernambuco, i.e., the Outpatient Group (OG/n = 195), the Microcephaly Case–Control Study (MCCS/n = 80), the MERG Pregnant Women Cohort (MERG-PWC/n = 336), and the Control Group (CG/n = 100). We developed a comprehensive array of clinical, laboratory, and imaging assessments that were undertaken by a ‘task force’ of clinical specialists in a single day at 3, 6, 12, 18 months of age, and annually from 24 months. Children from MCCS and CG had their baseline assessment at birth and children from the other groups, at the first evaluation by the task force. The baseline cohort includes 711 children born between February 2015 and February 2019. Children’s characteristics at baseline, excluding CG, were as follows: 32.6% (184/565) had microcephaly, 47% (263/559) had at least one physical abnormality, 29.5% (160/543) had at least one neurological abnormality, and 46.2% (257/556) had at least one ophthalmological abnormality. This ongoing cohort has contributed to the understanding of the congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) spectrum. The cohort has provided descriptions of paediatric neurodevelopment and early epilepsy, including EEG patterns and treatment response, and information on the frequency and characteristics of oropharyngeal dysphagia; cryptorchidism and its surgical findings; endocrine dysfunction; and adenoid hypertrophy in children with Zika-related microcephaly. The study protocols and questionnaires were shared across Brazilian states to enable harmonization across the different studies investigating microcephaly and CZS, providing the opportunity for the Zika Brazilian Cohorts Consortium to be formed, uniting all the ZIKV clinical cohorts in Brazil.