New Zika center opens in Baltimore

The Wilmer Eye Institute is collaborating with the Bloomberg School of Public Health to establish a hospital-based Zika research and treatment center open to patients worldwide.

The Johns Hopkins Zika Center will provide comprehensive care from a range of specialists, with a dedicated team from Wilmer focused on ophthalmologic manifestations of the virus. It is currently estimated that more than half the babies born to infected mothers, and many adults who contract Zika, experience ocular complications related to the retina and cornea. Ophthalmologist Dr. William May will serve as co-director of the center, and Brazil’s top Zika expert Rubens Belfort Jr., MD, Ph.D., MBA., will serve as advisor.

Patients can be referred to the center or call for an appointment, after which a case manager will coordinate with providers to create a treatment protocol.

“Our number one priority is our patients, and the hope is that our care and research will also lead to new developments in the effort to fight this potentially devastating disease,” said Dr. May.