On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said men and women who travel to countries where the virus is found should avoid sex or practice “safer sex” for half a year afterwards even if they have no symptoms, to minimise transmission and the chance of a pregnancy which carries defects such as microcephaly.
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The guidance is a change from the WHO’s interim recommendation on June 7, which referred only to men and had a shorter timeframe of at least eight weeks.
The Zika virus – mainly spread by the bite of the Aedes mosquito and sometimes sexual transmission – is now an worldwide health emergency.
However, in pregnant women it can be extremely serious, as there’s evidence it causes birth defects such as microcephaly – where babies are born with an abnormally small head.
While more studies are planned, Apte says these findings may help in the diagnosis and treatment of the Zika virus.
Further studies on people infected with Zika are being planned, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “We need to consider whether people with Zika have infectious virus in their eyes and how long it actually persists”. The quick spread of cases across Latin America indicates that mosquitoes are probably not the only culprit.
The Philippines confirmed on Monday its first case of the Zika virus this year and said it was “highly likely” it had been locally transmitted, and it expected more cases after stepping up surveillance.
In adults, Zika can cause conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, and in some rare cases uveitis, a condition in which part of the eye wall becomes inflamed.
The new guidelines reflect growing concern among health officials about the role of sex in spreading the virus, which can have a catastrophic impact on fetuses, including a brain disorder characterized by microcephaly, and can cause neurological complications and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. After injecting the test subjects with Zika, the researchers learned that the virus continued to “live in the eyes for seven days”, according to the Eurekalert press release.
The tears of Zika-infected mice contained the virus RNA – the genetic material from the virus – but their tears were not infectious 28 days after initial infection.
Last week, it said the outbreak remains an global health emergency and the virus is continuing to infect new countries, such as in Southeast Asia.
Now, a study published Tuesday showed bits of the virus could be found in the eyes and tears of mice.
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Many people infected with Zika do not have symptoms or will only have mild ones – a fever, rash and muscle/joint aches.
