On Monday, U.S. health officials provided new Zika virus guidelines, warning pregnant women that they could contract the virus from a sex partner of either gender.
Advertisement
All travelers to areas where Zika virus is active should be aware and take steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites (e.g., wear long sleeves and trousers, use EPA-approved insect repellant, etc.). Most people don’t even get sick, but there is a huge risk to unborn babies.
The mosquito-transmitted disease can cause microcephaly and other severe birth defects in babies born to women with Zika, scientists found last fall. The state also has monitored 47 pregnant women, with 15 having met an early definition for Zika cases.
“Expanding the use of the Zika-specific test could provide more women with Zika virus infection a definite diagnosis and help direct medical evaluation and care”, said the CDC, which also provided new care recommendations for pregnant women infected with the virus.
The baby was born by caesarean section after 40 weeks of pregnancy.
The research team predicted that 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.
CDC encourages local and state health department to report potential cases of sexually transmitted Zika virus infection.
The epidemic of the Zika virus has officially ended in Colombia, the country’s vice health minister said on Monday, 10 months after the mosquito-borne illness arrived in the Andean nation.
Brazil is expected to shoulder the heaviest burden from the current epidemic, with more than three times the number of infections of any other country.
The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barré, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.
CDC recommends that women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant postpone travel to Zika affected areas. But new information indicates that some infected pregnant women can retain evidence of Zika in their blood beyond that window, the Atlanta-based agency said.
Advertisement
The mother is reported to have contracted Zika while in Latin America.
