Zika concerns could test Singapore's efforts to boost birth rate

SINGAPORE (Sept 7): Singaporean pre-school teacher Siti is determined to try for a baby even as Zika infections spread across the Southeast Asian nation. She just does all she can to avoid mosquito bites.

"I really love kids and want to have one of my own," the 37-year-old who declined to give her full name said after a procedure at the fertility clinic of KK Women's and Children's Hospital, the largest facility for women's health in Singapore. "I'm not postponing my pregnancy plans but I'm taking all precautions I can."

The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to a spike in microcephaly, a rare birth defect, in Brazil, which has so far been the hardest hit by an outbreak affecting large parts of Latin America. Babies born with the defect have undersized heads and brains. In adults, the virus - which can also be sexually transmitted - has been linked to a rare neurological syndrome called Guillain-Barre.

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