A March 2016 study, “Zika Virus Infection in Pregnant Women in Rio de Janeiro-Preliminary Report”, published in the New England Journal of Medicine followed 88 pregnant women patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from September 2015 through February 2016.
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Florida already has more than 50 cases of Zika virus, but all have been caught while traveling to countries where the outbreak is ongoing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added new countries to its travel guidelines concerning the Zika virus, warning people who travel to these regions that the virus is at large.
Since the epidemic started last spring, there have been more than 5,600 Zika cases in Brazil alone, and most cases are travel related.
Meanwhile, Spanish actress Nerea Barros confirmed on Monday that she had been infected by the Zika virus while making a promotional trip to Colombia in November previous year.
If a woman is infected with Zika virus in the first trimester of pregnancy, she has a 1 in 100 risk of microcephaly, researchers estimate.
While many areas have the type of mosquitos that can spread the virus, the agency says that “recent outbreaks in the continental United States of chikungunya and dengue, which are spread by the same type of mosquito, have been relatively small and limited to a small area”.
“This means that all suspected cases of Zika virus diseases shall be reported within 24 hours to the Epidemiology Bureau (EB) through the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Units (RESU) in the country”, said Garin.
Garin said that only suspected cases will be tested for Zika virus despite persistent calls for the conduct of mass testing by the DOH. One in five people who are infected with the virus develop symptoms, which include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes.
The male patient, who presented with Zika-related symptoms, recently returned to the Louisville area from Central America.
But officials also have said Zika infections probably won’t be a big problem in the U.S. for a number of reasons, including the more common use of air conditioning and door and window screens.
Microcephaly isn’t a new birth defect, though awareness of the condition has surged in the wake of Zika infections in Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas that have led to health officials advising women in some countries to delay pregnancy.
He said the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with other non-health sectors, has formulated a National Zika Plan which will give guidance on actions to be taken.
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Those who are at the greatest risk are women who are pregnant or may become pregnant.
