A health seminar on the Zika virus and how it affects pregnant women and women of childbearing age is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4, at the North Bergen Public Library, 8411 Bergenline Ave., North Bergen.
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Since DPH began testing CT patients for the virus at the end of February, 220 people have been tested, including 204 pregnant women. “The period for which men should systematically have protected sexual relations (even oral) needs to be defined”. And the CDC has issued travel notices for countries affected by Zika, advising pregnant women not to visit those areas. Most people exposed to Zika virus won’t develop any symptoms at all.
The schedule was made in line with Roberto Clemente Day, a league-wide tribute honoring the late Pirates Hall of Famer who was born and raised there.
While in Puerto Rico, Burwell is expected to make the case for the congressional funding to combat Zika, which will include $246 million in federal support for Medicaid in the commonwealth and other US territories, plus $165 million in federal support to expand mosquito control programs, enhance lab capacity and intensify surveillance.
Public health officials have said they expect Zika to become active in the United States with the onset of mosquito season. Amidst fears of the virus reaching North America, the CDC has urged states to prepare for “widespread local transmission in the continental US”.
The guidelines published this week focus primarily on employers with an outdoor workforce, though contain universally applicable information on zika prevention and protection. For now, the solution is to prevent mosquito bites with insect repellent, long sleeves and pants, window screens and air conditioning.
Both Republicans and Democrats on the powerful committee said significant progress has been made toward a compromise to fund research on a vaccine against Zika and efforts to battle its spread. Helen Hurst says the one-hour program focuses on what nurses need to know about the disease that is spread through mosquito bites.
On Friday, the CDC reported that as of April 20, 388 cases of travel-linked Zika virus disease have been confirmed in the 50 states, and so far no American has picked up the disease locally.
“Today’s test result highlights the need for everyone to take precautions if they are traveling to areas affected by Zika”.
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Currently Zika is circulating in a number of countries, mostly Latin America, the Caribbean and some of the Pacific Islands. But the defect does not occur in every child whose mother is infected with the virus, according to health officials.
