Zika virus may not cause microcephaly

(Reuters/Carlo Allegri)A woman looks at a Center for Disease Control (CDC) health advisory sign about the dangers of the Zika virus as she lines up for a security screening at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, U.S., May 23, 2016.

About one in five people infected with the virus will get sick, and the illness is usually mild.

Because there are four cases of microcephaly with Zika, and none in the study, there should be about four times as many cases of Zika that are unreported.

In related news, the U.S. House has approved $1.1 billion spending to combat the rising threat of Zika virus.

 Most people with Zika do not display any symptoms, however it has been linked to a birth defect in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy, known as microcephaly, as well as a rare neurological disorders such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can result in paralysis and death.

The researchers noted that because data on family planning in Latin America is often hard to come by, their numbers may underestimate the surge in abortions since Zika’s emergence.

Despite the Zika health advisories in the seven Latin American Countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) there is a “very low risk” of the Zika virus spreading worldwide because of the upcoming Olympics that will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August. Nevertheless, the health authority has advised pregnant women to stay away from the Olympics and reminded visitors to avoid mosquito bites.

The “Zika in Infants and Pregnancy (ZIP)” study aims to enroll 10,000 pregnant women ages 15 and older at up to 15 sites across the globe.

The most important step in controlling mosquitoes is to find all of the places where water can accumulate and dumping the water out, according to DHEC officials. “It takes an entire community working together to protect a pregnant woman”. But many will appear healthy and normal, and there’s no way to know how they might have been affected, he explained.

Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same vector that carries the dengue and chikungunya viruses. But, transmission of the virus through sex is more common than previously thought, World Health Organization officials have said.

This Q&A will tell you what you need to know about Zika.