To Fight Zika Beyond Florida We Need Better Sex Education

In light of the recent news that Zika virus could stay in semen for more than six months ― twice as long as scientists previously though the virus could be detected ― it’s time for the United States to ramp up its focus on the major mechanism for Zika virus transmission after mosquitos: sex. “For the public health community, Zika represents an unprecedented emergency,” Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association in August. “Never before, to our knowledge, has a mosquito-borne virus been associated with human birth defects or been capable of sexual transmission,” Frieden wrote. “The effects of brain damage due to microcephaly and consequences of other Zika-related birth defects are likely devastating, lifelong, and costly.” As Zika virus spreads, with at least 55 countries and territories reporting local transmissions, according to the CDC, and the United States reporting two areas of active transmission in Florida, health officials like Frieden have called for increased safe-sex messaging, even for people outside active Zika zones. New York City is ramping up its public health messaging on sexually transmitted infections to include Zika virus in coming weeks, The New York Times reports. The campaign will feature posters, fliers, radio and television ads, in addition to deploying community health workers to communicate the risks of ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news