Zika Drug Projects Stall as WHO Ends Emergency (INO)

St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Coming out of the recently convened meeting of the Emergency Committee on Zika and Microcephaly, World Health Organization officials declared they no longer consider Zika and associated complications a public health emergency of global concern.

Because research has now shown that Zika and microcephaly are linked, “the committee felt that what is best now is a very robust technical response to the virus, and that would require work within World Health Organization”, he said. While March of Dimes welcomes the World Health Organization’s recommendation to develop a longer-term Zika response mechanism, the impact of this disease on babies must be recognized as distinct among other infectious threats, meriting an escalated response.

The following States Parties provided information on microcephaly, GBS and other neurological disorders occurring in the presence of Zika virus transmission as well as control measures being implemented: Brazil, Thailand, and the United States of America. Can people contract Zika a few times?

After the worldwide emergency on the disease has been removed, it has been put under the same class as other diseases including dengue, which require work on the part of public health officials and continued research so that effective vaccines could be developed. “We are sending the message that Zika is here to stay and the W.H.O. response is here to stay”.

The current study uses data reported by the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network to assess the extent and characteristics of Zika virus infections caught by global travelers. The Zika virus has been spreading across the Americas since 2014, and links to Guillain-Barré syndrome, microcephaly, and other neurological complications have been verified. One of the cases was related to laboratory-handling of the virus.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infections Disease, is among critics of WHO’s decision.

In a third study, ultrasound and fetal MRI were performed on pregnant patients with Zika virus infection at different gestational ages. It stressed Friday that despite the “technical declaration” by the WHO, Zika infection continues to be a serious threat to pregnant women, babies born to pregnant women with Zika and their families. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes that spread zika are aggressive daytime biters.