Ecuador and Venezuela saw a similar doubling, while numerous Central American nations saw numbers rise, too, but more modestly. The virus has been linked to a spike in cases of microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and possible neurological damage, sparking worldwide concern.
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Researchers analysed thousands of requests received by Women on Web, a website that advises women online and then delivers pills to end a pregnancy, in the five years before the Pan American Health Organization issued its warning on Zika on 17 November 2015.
Most countries that have issued health warnings about Zika virus and had legal restrictions on abortion experienced significant increase of request for abortion.
In many of these countries, abortion is either illegal or highly restricted, leaving pregnant women with few options and potentially driving them to use unsafe methods, experts today warned.
The research, published on Wednesday as a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first to measure the response of pregnant women to Zika warnings in countries where abortion is limited or banned. While Zika causes pregnant women to look for ways to get an abortion, it is not known how much it can affect them if they were infected and how many women are in the same situation.
Dallas County could take the lead, if at least three of the pregnant women being monitored are confirmed by the CDC to have the Zika virus.
In related news, the U.S. House on Thursday approved a $1.1 billion funding package to combat the Zika threat, the Associated Press reported. Health departments, especially in areas along the Texas-Mexico border, are preparing for the expected arrival of the Zika Virus, carried by the aegypti mosquito, which is endemic to the region. As of June 15, a total of 756 cases of Zika have been reported across the country – all in people who contracted it overseas or through sexual contact with someone who traveled overseas.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – State health officials say a woman in northwest Ohio has acquired the Zika virus through sexual transmission.
For most people, symptoms of a Zika infection can include a rash, red eyes, sore muscles and joints, and fever, and that’s if they display symptoms at all, because many won’t. Here, the Zika virus replicates and causes disease.
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The World Health Organization says women who live in areas where Zika is spreading should consider delaying pregnancy, since there’s no other sure way to avoid the virus’ devastating birth defects.
