The Zika Virus Individual Participant Data Consortium Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis Initiative

Overview

In 2016, WHO began a major global initiative to facilitate cross-study analyses of ZIKV-related studies of pregnant women and their children through both the creation of standardized protocols for cohort and case-control studies and through the creation of the ZIKV Individual Participant Data (IPD) Consortium.

The ZIKV IPD Consortium is a global collaboration of ZIKV researchers that have agreed to pool de-identified, participant-level data to clarify persistent questions in ZIKV epidemiology and to provide more accurate information about the absolute risk of adverse ZIKV-related fetal, infant, and child outcomes.

The largest cohorts of pregnant women began as the outbreak was ending, resulting in a smaller than expected number of ZIKV-infections. The ZIKV IPD Consortium will conduct and individual participant data meta-analysis (IPD-MA) to leverage existing data to better inform women and couples planning a pregnancy on the longer-term consequences of fetal exposure that are not observable at birth or during the first year.