Travelers – and even some Olympic hopefuls in the Chicago area – are faced with the decision of whether or not to travel to countries where mosquitoes carry the virus.
Advertisement
The CDC advisory followed a report out of Texas that one confirmed case of Zika virus infection was transmitted through sex, not a mosquito bite.
The Zika virus has spread quickly through Latin America. “The most common symptoms of Zika are fever are rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis (red eyes)”.
According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the Zika infection usually causes a mild illness that typically lasts between two to seven days. But, he added, more tests are needed to confirm that the Zika virus is the cause of the birth defect.
The agency said it doesn’t recommend any travel restrictions, but said pregnant women and those planning pregnancies should determine the risks they are willing to take by keeping informed and consulting with health providers before and after travel. “The most effective way to prevent infection is avoiding unnecessary travel to Zika affected areas”. “I’m sure there is concern right now, and you don’t want to have any external worries or concerns when the stakes are so high and you’re playing at such a high level”.
A study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine provided new evidence strengthening the association between Zika virus and a spike in birth defects, citing the presence of the virus in the brain of an aborted fetus of a European woman who became pregnant while living in Brazil.
Differing views on the Zika virus, particularly from female athletes, threaten to throw competitor participation at the Rio Olympic Games into chaos. Babies born with this rare condition, known as microcephaly, have abnormally small heads and brain abnormalities. But no cases of the virus in Hong Kong have been reported, it said. Those who opt to end their pregnancies should have access to safe options, accurate information, and counseling to the extent possible under national laws, according to the WHO.
The finding was based on two Brazilian infants who had microcephaly and died in the first 24 hours of life, Tom Frieden, director of the CDC told a House panel hearing. She was not hospitalized and returned to OH last week.
“We are very concerned about the onset of the mosquito season at the beginning of April”, de Blasio said on Thursday.
There have been 13 confirmed cases in the Sunshine state since 2014.
Asked if health officials couldn’t instead use unspent money that Congress allocated for Ebola in West Africa, Frieden said those remaining dollars are committed to ensuring the remnants of that outbreak are stamped out.
Advertisement
The Obama administration’s request for funding, made Monday, would allow for an expansion of mosquito-control programs, speed development of a vaccine, develop diagnostic tests and improve support for low-income pregnant women.
