Pregnant women in any trimester are encouraged to consider postponing travel to areas where Zika is prevalent.
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Today and at the request of Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico, signaling that the current spread of Zika virus poses a significant threat to public health in the Commonwealth relating to pregnant women and children born to pregnant women with Zika.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday declared the emergency as Puerto Rico said that there were 10,690 laboratory confirmed Zika cases on the Caribbean island of 3.5 million, including 1,035 pregnant women. The virus has also been known to cause other negative outcomes of pregnancy, like miscarriage and stillbirth, along with severe neurological concerns.
The declaration of a public health emergency enables the use of public funds to hire workers to eradicate mosquitoes in an effort to reduce the spread of the infection and to educate women of childbearing age on how best to avoid the virus, which can also be spread through sexual contact.
“The threat of Zika to future generations of Puerto Ricans is evident, and I feel a responsibility to do everything that is within my reach to make sure we fight the spread of the virus”, Garcia Padilla said.
The state apparently ranks third in the number of infected people here, behind NY at 530 and Florida with 322, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many people infected with the virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For someone who is not a pregnant women, or in a relationship with one, the virus can seem somewhat benign. This is why we are actively looking for alternatives to prevent the number of infections from increasing.
The virus can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by abnormally small head size and developmental problems in babies.
A report published in Seattle Times informed, “Clearly, few members of Congress know what this is all about”.
Doctors at the Atlanta-based CDC are anxious.
Florida’s Department of Health says active transmission has been only happening in a 1-square-mile area encompassing Miami’s Wynwood arts district.
Millions of Americans who want to cut government spending and government regulations should think about Zika.
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“The hope is there will be less and less as Canadians become more aware of the risk”.
