Brazil health minister says Zika not a worry for Olympics

Is this the type of warning that could impact your travel schedule this summer? In most cases the symptoms are similar to a cold or flu and not risky, but pregnant women who contract Zika risk giving birth to children with severe defects, including an abnormally small head and brain.

Barros, a congressman and engineer by training, is new to the Health Ministry.

Authorities, however, said they are not relying only on dry winter weather to reduce the incidence of Zika.

Their study found posts that wrongly linked microcephaly with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, an echo of the similarly debunked claims that the vaccine was linked to autism. With the mosquito-spread Zika sweeping across the Americas, spending two weeks near the epicentre of the virus probably doesn’t sound too appealing.

For women during the summer months in the U.S., Davis said, “what you might think about is delaying pregnancy”.

This lessens the number of mosquitoes that can transmit dengue and Zika.

The Zika virus is caused by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. Despite these natural concerns, Brazil has prepared very well for these Games.

A letter signed by 177 health experts so far who are also still calling for more signatures stated their concern to Dr. Chan.

The Brazilian health minister said he hoped the athletes who had refused to participate in the Olympics over the fear of contracting the Zika virus would reconsider their decision.

The WHO’s Emergency Committee on Zika will meet again next week to review the latest research on Zika and the potential effects of the virus on the Olympics, which begin August 5. “But obviously we’ve been told about how to be safe, wearing repellent and staying indoors and so on”, the London Games silver medallist said.

They also stated that three Games have been cancelled in the past for health reasons and this should indicate that having the 2016 Games would be wrong should they continue having it in Rio because of the Zika virus.

While research is still being conducted on the spread of the virus, Brazilian Olympic officials are trying to quash concern for their upcoming Games.

We should be inoculated against that.