But for babies in the womb Zika can be devastating – linked to a brain-damaging disorder called microcephaly that can lead to stillbirth or severely disabling birth defects.
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At a news conference on Friday, officials said the case should serve as warning to anyone who considered the virus to be just a theoretical threat and once again urged all pregnant women not to travel to countries where Zika is endemic.
The infant’s mother was infected with Zika “in an area with ongoing Zika transmission”, and the baby “is positive for Zika”, the New York City Department of Health said in a press release.
Participants will learn how Zika is spread, what the symptoms are, the ways they can protect their families and more.
Everyone should take precautions to prevent mosquito bites to avoid infection with Zika virus, and to prevent further spread of the virus.
“Pregnant women with sex partners (male or female) who live in or who have traveled to an area with active Zika virus transmission should consistently and correctly use barriers against infection during sex or abstain from sex for the duration of the pregnancy”, the CDC advises.
In April, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the virus causes microcephaly and other birth defects, joining the World Health Organization in warning of the potentially severe risks of infection.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday extended the timeframe for testing pregnant women up to 14 days after possible Zika exposure in its newly updated recommendations.
Almost 100,000 Colombians have been diagnosed with Zika since the first cases were confirmed last October. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they rarely die after contracting the Zika virus. First, other factors in Brazil could play a role in the high number of cases there; possibilities include genetic causes and the interaction between Zika and another disease found in Brazil. The results of the latter test are more hard to interpret because the body’s reaction to Zika virus can resemble the reaction to similar viruses; therefore, this test may not provide a definite diagnosis.
During the peak of the epidemic in Colombia, back in early February, more than 6,000 cases were reported in a week. The virus is typically transmitted through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. Zika virus was confirmed in 21 per cent of the blood samples using a PCR-based test.
The research team predicted Olympics host Brazil will suffer more than double the impact of any other country, with about 580,000 pregnant women out of 37.4 million total infections.
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The diagnosis of Zika infection is complicated.
