NBCNEWS.COM – (by Maggie Fox) A man infected with Zika virus in Puerto Rico has died from complications of the infection, health officials said Friday.
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In the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC said the patient died because of immune thrombocytopenia purpura, a condition in which the patient has a low blood platelet count as a result of another illness. According to the CDC, a 70-something man who died in Puerto Rico in late February was killed by complications related to the virus.
There have been a total of 638 confirmed cases of Zika in Puerto Rico, where the virus is being transmitted from insects to people. Health officials said they tested more than 6,000 people for Zika infection.
The CDC has warned of a potential explosion of Zika cases in Puerto Rico, possibly reaching into the hundreds of thousands.
Sharp said the ITP case followed the same pattern as patients with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a paralyzing neurological disorder linked to Zika infections in which the immune system attacks nerves.
In Rhode Island, Zika remains a travel-acquired virus.
Zika is spread by mosquitoes, but there hasn’t been a single case of a mosquito spreading the virus in the U.S.
Symptoms of Zika include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes, but the disease has also been linked to microcephaly – a rare condition that causes infants to be born with small heads which damages the brain. The test’s developers, Quest Diagnostics, say the diagnostic tool will be available in the United States and Puerto Rico as soon as next week. But it can be very risky for the fetus of an infected pregnant woman.
The Zika virus can cause severe birth defects in children and most cases so far have been travel-related.
Although contracting the Zika virus is rarely fatal, it can have particularly dire consequences for pregnant women.
He sought medical care because he reported symptoms similar to dengue, but tested positive for Zika.
In people who aren’t pregnant and are in good health, the infection can cause no symptoms and clear out of their blood in as little as three weeks.
Gov. Rick Scott was in Fort Myers on Friday, talking about Zika virus preparations in the state.
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Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said during a news conference with officials from various state departments, including heath, agriculture and transportation, that his administration’s “first and main priority is keeping Marylanders safe”, and that “all levels of government are working together to respond to threats to public health…”
