At this point, you all must have seen, heard or read about the Zika virus; however, whether you undertstand what it is, how you can get it or what its potential dangers are is a different story. Expert opinions, studies and warnings about the virus have been mixed and many, so the general lack of clarity on the subject is understandable. Below is a breakdown of everything we know, don’t know and still aren’t sure about concerning the enigmatic virus.
First and foremost, a coherent definition of what exactly is Zika, according to the CDC is: “Zika virus disease (Zika) is a disease caused by the Zika virus, which is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected.“
However, there are now studies that contest whether mosquitoes are the sole culprits to be feared in transmitting the disease. According to the CDC, unprotected sexual intercourse (between both opposite and same-sex couples) can transmit the Zika virus. In early February, the first case of sexual transmission of the virus was disclosed by the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department after a man – whose gender was revealed in a later announcement – had unprotected sex with his partner after returning from Venezuala, infecting the pair of them.
The reason why this is such a global concern is not because of the rashes, joint pains or conjnctivitis; the Zika virus has been linked to causing birth defects and neurological conditions in children born to an infected mother.
Previously on March 31st, the World Health Organization announced a “strong scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of GBS (Guillain-Barre syndrome), microcephaly and other neurological disorders,” based on “observational, cohort and case-control studies.” Microcephalny is a rare neurological condition where an infant’s head is noticeably smaller due to incomplete brain development during pregnancy, and GBS is also a rare neurological disorder that can cause paralysis.
Later on April 13th, CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden stated, “there is no longer any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly.” After months of eveluating “mounting evidence from many studies,” he concludes “an unprecedented association” in medicine.
Evidently, this puts pregnant women and couples trying for children at risk of having babies with birth defects and neurological disorders, and knowing that it can be spread sexually has led to a myriad of panicked responses from various international health organizations. Public Health England officials are urging citizens to forgo travelling to infected areas. The CDC reccomends couples to either use condoms or avoid sex with potentially infected male partners ‘until further notice’, and in some extreme cases, El Salvador has even advised all women to not get pregnant until 2018.
Since January of this year, Brazil has been hit hardest by the increase in children born with microcephalny, and Colombia is following suit with an increase of 140 cases in their nation’s annual average; of the 32 children born with microcepphalny in the latter country, so far 8 have been tested positive for Zika, and that number could and is expected to grow as more research is conducted.
As of now, no treatment or vaccination exists to combat or prevent Zika, so all we have to arm ourselves with is knowledge and continued research.
Cover image obtained from: http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/04/experts-agree-zika-can-cause-microcephaly.html