The vast majority of people infected with Zika experience no symptoms or mild ones, such as a fever and a rash.
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Tropical Singapore, a global financial and transit hub, has reported just over 240 Zika cases since the first locally infected case was detected on August 27, and media has quoted the deputy health minister as saying the virus was “here to stay”.
Although the main risk of catching the disease is through the bite of infected mosquitoes, the World Health Organization said recent evidence had also indicated that Zika virus may be transmitted through semen and other body fluids, such as vaginal fluids and cervical mucus. Only two showed an early infection 14 days later, and the virus was not detected on their heads or in their saliva.
The researchers say their findings raise the possibility that human tears could carry the virus, but caution that they have not yet undertaken research to figure out whether their findings on mice are also applicable to humans. The update comes after Zika was found in the semen of a man six months after he came into contact with the virus. But the Zika virus is not completely gone.
But the spread of the virus worldwide – including into northern areas where the primary source of the disease, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is not prevalent – suggests a far greater role for sex in Zika transmission. Mosquitoes are largely blamed for the spread but Diamond says a number of factors may be at play.
“All Dengue hotspots are also Zika hotspots and the risk of Zika spreading depends on the density of Aedes mosquitoes”, he said.
Dr. Van Philip Baton, Medical Officer of Department of Health (DOH-7) said during the Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO) – Philippine Information Agency (PIA) 7, said that as of now, there is no record of suspected cases with zika virus here in the region. “We need to consider whether people with Zika have infectious virus in their eyes and how long it actually persists”. What isn’t yet known is whether or not this Zika material in the eyes can transmit infection, and if it can do so in people, the researchers said. This means infections sometimes persist in the eye after they have been eliminated from the rest of the body, the study authors explained. “If you know you have virus replicating in the eye, you can just give the drug locally and measure any change in viral replication”.
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In this January 27, 2016 file photo, an Aedes aegypti mosquito known to carry the Zika virus, is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.
