Mosquito Bite that Causes Brain Damage | South America, US

The Zika virus is confirmed in cases from Brazil to Mexico, and just last week the first Texas case was confirmed in Harris County in a traveler returning from Latin America.

Pregnant women have been warned not to travel to countries where the infection has been reported.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued initial travel warnings to pregnant women last week, adding eight more places to the list on Friday.

According to ACOG’s DeFrancesco, “there is much that we do not yet know about the Zika virus and its effects during pregnancy, for example whether pregnant women are of greater risk of infection than non-pregnant individuals”.

With the confirmation made Saturday, Zika is now circulating on both sides of the island of Hispaniola that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti where one case of the virus was recently confirmed.

The CDC has cautioned pregnant women not to travel to these areas as Zika has been suspected to lead to birth defects.

Yesterday, Dr Khor said that while there have been no reported cases of Zika here yet, Singaporeans should remain vigilant.

Infectious diseases physician Leong Hoe Nam said the symptoms of dengue and Zika infections are broadly similar. By comparison, there were, on average, 163 cases of microcephaly each year between 2010 and 2014.

The recommendations by health ministers in the two Latin American nations come after a surge in cases of babies born with severe brain defects in Brazil, which experts believe are linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus spreading through the region. Babies born with this condition have abnormally small heads and suffer from serious developmental problems, potentially resulting in the death of the child. “That’s why pregnant women and women who are considering pregnancy should delay planned travel to areas where Zika virus outbreaks are ongoing”.

Health workers fumigate to prevent Dengue, Chikunguya and Zika virus, at El Angel cemetery, in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Jan 20, 2016. The hardest-hit country has been Brazil, where more than one million people have contracted the virus. An adult who contracts Zika might find the experience relatively mild: a slight fever, a rash, and pain in the joints and behind the eyes.

But because there is no treatment or vaccine – and the consequences for unborn babies so great – health authorities in Colombia and El Salvador have advised women not to become pregnant. However, because of the associated risk of microcephaly, avoiding exposure to the virus is best. Other suggestions regionally include using mosquito bed nets which can also be treated with insecticide, wearing clothing that does not expose the skin and the use of wire mesh screens for windows and doors.

Now authorities in some Latin American countries are warning women to avoid getting pregnant for fear of the virus.

The CDC said a newborn in Hawaii was found to have brain damage linked to Zika. There are now no reports of locally acquired cases of ZIKV.