Alabama health agency confirms first Zika case in state

It dominated the headlines of news sites all over but you had no idea what Zika was. “Pregnant women who have recently traveled to an area with Zika should talk to a healthcare provider about their travel even if they don’t feel sick”.

In a recent report on the Zika virus, researchers including several from ESCMID discussed the threat that may be posed to residents in Brazil as well as attendees to the Olympic games.

Acknowledging that a case of Zika was spread through sexual contact in Dallas, Frieden said much was still unknown about the virus, including the depth of its health effects and how long it could survive in bodily fluids.

In the first direct statements from government health officials blaming Zika for causing deaths, Colombia’s National Health Institute (INS) said Friday that the patients died after contracting the virus and developing a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. That has especially been an issue in Brazil, which garnered widespread attention after a number of babies whose mothers had contracted Zika while pregnant were born with microcephaly.

Municipal health data for dengue in Rio, a city of more than 6 million people, shows how variable the rate of infection can be.

According to Prof. Petersen, “Specific and rapid diagnostic tests for the virus will allow better surveillance and assessment of the risk for microcephaly, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and other complications”.

Zika virus has been detected in breast milk but there is now no evidence that the virus is transmitted to babies through breastfeeding, it said.

According to the iflscience.com article, “Where Did Zika Virus Come From And Why Is It A Problem In Brazil?” by Amy Y. Vittor, “There is another theory that Zika virus may have been introduced following an global canoe event held in Rio de Janeiro in August of 2014, which hosted competitors from various Pacific islands”. Whether the mosquito-borne virus really causes microcephaly isn’t yet proven, but Wednesday’s report in The New England Journal of Medicine offers additional biologic clues. During her 13th week of pregnancy, she developed high fever, followed by muscle and joint pain, pain in the back of her eyes, and a rash with some itching. “The areas that Zika is circulating right now are also populated by other viruses that have strong similarity to Zika, including dengue (fever)”.

Any pregnant woman experiencing Zika virus-like symptoms during or up to two weeks after travel should be tested for infection.

Olympic Sports Confederation spokesman Michael Schirp said: “The brochure we sent ends fittingly with the phrase that there is no need for panic”. There is now no vaccine or treatment for Zika.