Zika, Zika, Zika: Some Simple Tidbits And Tips

With summer in full swing, increasing concerns about the spread of the Zika virus in the United States are raining on our long-awaited parade. The Zika virus infection is a relatively new disease in the western Hemisphere and, to date, there are only a limited number of cases reported in the United States. The hysteria regarding this virus surrounds its potential impact on developing fetuses. After evaluating evidence gathered from many studies over several months, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization announced that Zika definitely causes microcephaly (unusually small heads and damaged brains) in infants born to infected mothers. The Zika virus currently poses a significant public health threat to residents of South America countries, most significantly Brazil, and to Puerto Rico, while the impact here in the United States to date is still unclear even with 10 individuals contracting the virus in Miami just last week. One of the most concerning elements is that the virus has been found in bodily fluids including saliva, blood, urine, amniotic fluids and semen, and has been found to spread through sexual contact (and as mentioned above, from a mother to her unborn child) in addition to mosquito bites. Even more concerning, only 20% of infected people are symptomatic, meaning the rest of those infected with Zika don't know they have it and may not be taking precautions to keep it from spreading, which is especially problematic in cit...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news