For one, there’s no preventive vaccine or specific treatment for the virus.
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No cases of the Zika virus have been reported in the continental United States. They also suggested that pregnant women who already travelled in these areas should undergo screening, tests and be monitored.
Dr. Willliam Schaffner, Vanderbilt University Dept. of Internal Medicine chairman, joins Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero to explain precautions Americans, and pregnant women in particular, can take against the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Zika virus is suspected to be the cause of an recent increase, in Brazil, in babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small brains.
Since the first confirmed case of the mosquito-borne infection Zika in North East Brazil May 2015, there have been confirmed cases in 18 countries in the Americas to date. Pregnant women are at high risk of contracting the Zika virus, which can lead to birth defects.
He also said the mosquito that carries Zika has also been identified in Texas, Florida and the gulf states, so it’s possible to contract the virus there as well.
There is an unprecedented outbreak of the virus in Brazil and health experts have warned that it is likely it could spread to almost all of the Americas.
Samoa has reported three cases, with one being exported to New Zealand.
PAHO warned pregnant women to be “especially careful” and to see their doctor before and after visiting areas affected by the virus.
Right now, scientists can’t calculate the risk that contracting Zika during pregnancy will have negative consequences for the unborn child.
It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever.
About 80% of those infected with the Zika virus do not develop any symptoms, which include fever, joint pain, and rashes.
While the disease’s symptoms are mild, pregnant women who become infected can have babies with birth defects (including microcephaly-being born with a small head and underdeveloped brain) and experience other poor pregnancy outcomes.
More than 3,000 health inspectors in Rio de Janeiro will target known breeding grounds for the insects in an attempt to stem the spread of the disease as the city prepares to host the Summer Olympics in August. But officials also have said Zika infections probably won’t be a big problem in the US for a number of reasons, including the more common use of air conditioning and door and window screens.
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Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica have advised women to avoid pregnancy altogether, an idea echoed by a top Brazilian health official, although the official line so far simply urges women to avoid mosquitoes.
