DHEC and the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have tested 105 people in SC for the Zika virus, with one positive case, 99 negative and five pending.
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CNN is reporting that the patient was a 70-year-old man from San Juan who contracted Zika, was treated for the symptoms, but then returned to the hospital with signs of the bleeding disorder.
Benjamin Haynes, a spokesman for the CDC, said Friday that the Puerto Rican man, from the metro area of the USA territory’s capital of San Juan, died earlier this year. He suffered from internal bleeding and died less than 24 hours after seeking help at a health center in late February.
CDC official Tyler Sharp told The Washington Post the man had a rare condition called immune thrombocytopenic purpura, which has been linked to Zika infections.
“He died shortly thereafter of complications related to severe thrombocytopenia”, the spokesperson said.
“We had expected to see a case appear in SC eventually as more people vacation to countries where the Zika virus is actively spreading”, said Teresa Foo, M.D. and DHEC medical consultant. Dengue infections are very common in Puerto Rico, said Mark Mulligan, an infectious disease professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Health officials reported that Zika virus infection causes microcephaly and other severe birth defects.
The United States confirmed its first Zika death on Friday. Symptoms include fever, rash and joint pain, though Helerstedt says some who acquire the virus may not know it.
You are reading news and information on LongIsland.com, Long Island’s Most Popular Website, Since 1996. In both cases, the auto-immune attack occurs after Zika symptoms have been cleared.
Mosquitoes in SC do not carry the Zika virus at this time.
The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert about the first confirmed Zika virus infections in Brazil last May. So far, there’s no rapid diagnostic test to detect Zika in a newly-infected person. Severe complications from the virus that require hospitalization are rare and most people are over the worst of the symptoms after a week, according to the CDC.
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Dr. Murphy said Pennsylvania will be launching a plan this summer focusing on education, prevention, and surveillance. While the aedes aegypti mosquito is only found in small numbers in the Lowcountry, another potential carrier, aedes albopictus, is considered to be abundant throughout the state.
