Zika virus

[myoakley]

I am curious as to whether the zika virus in Brazil and the Caribbean is causing anyone (especially pregnant women) to change travel plans. I was thinking that terrorist worries might discourage travelers to Europe and beyond, but would be great for tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean. Now, however, the dreaded mosquitoes are ready to attack with this new and dangerous (to babies in the womb) virus.

 

[x3 skier]

A disease like this that is widespread in an area is one of the only reasons that I would change plans. Since the chance of getting infected by a mosquito bite is higher than some random terror attack, I would avoid Brazil and any other place that has a similar threat of disease.

That said, I have no plans to visit Brazil so I have no clue if the disease is limited in the area affected or if the whole country including major cities has a motor infestation.

Cheers

 

[moonstone]

We are in northern Belize for the winter and the Zika virus is mentioned constantly in the news down here. I am way past any risk of pregnancy so not too concerned. I feel sorry for the younger women. Hopefully a vaccine against it will be developed soon.

We take precautions against getting mosquito bites due to Dengue Fever and Chickamauga by using spray when we are out at dusk since we think they would affect us more.

~Diane

 

[pedro47]

We are in northern Belize for the winter and the Zika virus is mentioned constantly in the news down here. I am way past any risk of pregnancy so not too concerned. I feel sorry for the younger women. Hopefully a vaccine against it will be developed soon.

We take precautions against getting mosquito bites due to Dengue Fever and Chickamauga by using spray when we are out at dusk since we think they would affect us more.

~Diane

This is primary a problem for pregnant females as stated; does it have any effect on others (males, children and non pregnant females) ?

 

[loosefeet]

Mexico is also an area of concern now for pregnant women. That will be big for the U.S.

 

[Dollie]

Travel Clinic

Most major/university hospitals have a travel clinic. They would have all the latest information on threats in different areas and what preventive measures should be taken. I would contact them. We've used them for trips to Africa, Bhutan and Thailand, and South America. Another advantage is they usually have the exotic pills and shots you need that your local pharmacist doesn't carry.

 

[dioxide45]

Realize that the summer Olympics will be in Brazil later this year.

 

[MULTIZ321]

How to Keep Away Mosquitoes Carrying Zika, Dengue - by Carina Storrs/ Special to CNN/ Health/ cnn.com

"(CNN)When Zika virus made headlines because of its link with the neurological disorder microcephaly, it became the latest in a growing list of mosquito-borne viruses for Americans to worry about.

"Dengue, chikungunya and Zika are the ones that I'm very fearful of for the Gulf Coast states [such as Florida and Texas], and Zika is the most terrifying of all because of the horrific birth defects," said Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine..."

Richard

 

[Tia]

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6502e1.htm if interested

 

[moonstone]

El Salvador is now telling young women to not get pregnant until at least 2018! http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world...to-avoid-birth-defects/ar-BBoyEVq?ocid=AARDHP

I guess they figure they'll have a vaccine or some other way to control the Zika virus by then.


~Diane

 

[lizap]

I suspect it will make it here soon, given that it's in the Carribean.

 

[dioxide45]

I suspect it will make it here soon, given that it's in the Carribean.

Maybe, maybe not. This virus is carried by the same mosquito that carries chikungunya. There were some cases confirmed in Florida where people who hadn't traveled to the Caribbean contracted chikungunya, but it certainly isn't/wasn't side spread. It would seem that this mosquito isn't widespread in the United States, cooler temperatures and freezes in the north may keep it somewhat under control in the US.

 

[Luanne]

We're leaving on a cruise of the Western Caribbean next week. Just got a notice from the cruise line about the Zika virus. Basically it was to use caution and be prepared.

 

[disneymom1]

LOTS of phone calls this week at the office from pregnant patients planning to travel to these affected areas! Baby moons are becoming quite popular nowadays! We are advising them NOT TO GO!! The only testing available in our state (NJ) is thru the Dept. of Health/CDC.

 

[isisdave]

Until just now, I thought a baby moon was a hubcap, so I asked my friend Google to enlighten me. Who knew?

 

[PigsDad]

I had never heard the term "baby moon" before either. Is it an East Coast thing?

Kurt

 

[Luanne]

I had never heard the term "baby moon" before either. Is it an East Coast thing?

Kurt

Nope. I have a friend who was married in California, now living in Reno, who had a baby moon. I think it's a generational thing.

 

[puppymommo]

Nope. I have a friend who was married in California, now living in Reno, who had a baby moon. I think it's a generational thing.

At first glance I read this as GESTATIONAL thing.

 

[VegasBella]

If I were pregnant i would probably avoid travel to any area with mosquitoes, but...
microcephaly is purely a small head. There are tons of causes. They don't know if this disease is really causing it or maybe it's a drug reaction or something else entirely. Microcephaly is more common in babies of mothers who smoke or otherwise have diminished lung capacity, babies whose mothers experienced malnutrition, etc. Poverty is associated with microcephaly and is also associated with an increased risk of virtually any illness.

If you're really careful about using mosquito repellent then you're probably just fine.

 

[n777lt]

If I were pregnant i would probably avoid travel to any area with mosquitoes, but...
microcephaly is purely a small head. There are tons of causes. They don't know if this disease is really causing it or maybe it's a drug reaction or something else entirely. Microcephaly is more common in babies of mothers who smoke or otherwise have diminished lung capacity, babies whose mothers experienced malnutrition, etc. Poverty is associated with microcephaly and is also associated with an increased risk of virtually any illness.

If you're really careful about using mosquito repellent then you're probably just fine.

If I were pregnant or thinking of becoming so, I wouldn't be that sanguine - the epidemiological evidence being reported from the cited countries shows a very strong coincidence of Zika virus infections and increased births of microencephalic babies, regardless of what the mechanism is (and there's NO reported connection between drug reactions and the increases in the countries in question overall, though yes an individual case might be drug-related). Similarly, there haven't been recent sharp changes in poverty rates, but there have been sharp increases in cases of microencephaly. they may not know WHY there is the connection, but the connection is there. If you don't NEED to travel to those countries, and you are pregnant or might be, then I'd say those odds are a bit too high to rely on bug repellent, even 100% DEET (which is contraindicated during pregnancy anyway).

Yes, there are lies, damn lies and statistics, but in this case, statistics are your friend.

 

[VegasBella]

If I were pregnant or thinking of becoming so, I wouldn't be that sanguine

Did you not read the first line of my post where I said "If I were pregnant i would probably avoid travel to any area with mosquitoes"
?

 

[MULTIZ321]

The Zika Virus Takes a Frightening Turn - and Raises Many Questions - by Jason Beaubien/ Goats and Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World/ National Public Radio/ npr.org

"Something new — and quite frightening — appears to be happening with the Zika virus.

For decades Zika was a virus that turned up in monkeys and occasionally in humans in Africa and Southeast Asia. Its symptoms were mild and the number of confirmed human cases was low.

The first big outbreak was on the island of Yap in Micronesia. Three quarters of the island's population were infected — about 5,000 people. But few of them reported any symptoms.

Things began to change last year. The virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, turned up in Brazil. There have been at least half a million cases there and the virus has appeared in many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Why is this virus spreading so rapidly?

"We do still know so little about this virus and the harm that it can cause," says Albert Ko, an epidemiologist from Yale who has been working with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to investigate the Zika outbreak. "This is really a relatively new pathogen." Indeed, the virus was first identified in 1947 in a rhesus monkey in Uganda's Zika forest (which gave the disease its name)..."

A researcher holds a container with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This species transmits the Zika virus.
Andre Penner/AP



Richard

 

[MULTIZ321]

C.D.C. Issues Travel Alert for 8 More Locations Over Zika Virus - by Catherine Saint Louis/ Health/ International New York Times/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"Federal health officials on Friday added eight destinations to the list of those to which pregnant women should not travel in order to avoid infection with the Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in newborns.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, St. Martin and Guyana, as well as Samoa, in the South Pacific, and Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa..."


Richard

 

[AnnaS]

It's in NY now. We are cruising in May and the US Virgin Islands have been added to the list.

Not pregnant or planning on getting pregnant. Will bring bug spray. I am glad my two dil's are not cruising with us since I know they plan on getting pregnant and one has been working on it. There is another young couple - not sure if they are coming now (We are a big group).

 

[myoakley]

The reports on the spread of this virus are becoming more panicked. Airlines are now refunding tickets to women who want to cancel reservations to affected areas. It has occurred to be that a virus that is so devastating to a fetus could possibly prove more damaging to children and to adults than presently thought. I ask again: has anyone changed plans or canceled travel to Mexico, So. America or the Caribbean because of it?