Hi. My name is Claudia Ojeda and I am a 17-year-old Zika virus survivor. Yes, I survived Zika. Shocking, right? It really isn’t, but if you’ve seen the news for the past couple of months you might be surprised. The truth is that the media has been overflowed with non-stop talks about the “Zika Virus Outbreak” taking over places like Puerto Rico, Brazil, and most recently South Florida. However, speaking as someone who has had the virus, a lot of the information flying around is either misleading or plainly outrageous (looking at you, Hope Solo).
I am by no means saying Zika doesn’t exist or that it is a conspiracy; it is very much in fact real; I didn’t go through a week of rash, extreme joint pain, not being able to walk, red eyes, fever, and crying for nothing. I’m also not saying that you shouldn’t protect yourself from it; trust me it’s not like your common cold. I’m just saying that the misinformation that is spreading like the 14th Century Black Plague has caused a new sort of “Red Scare” (but like, for mosquitos) that has gotten way out of hand, affecting the reputation of entire cities and countries.
First of all, let’s begin with some basic facts: Zika is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and it can be transmitted from person to person by mosquito bites, sexual transmission, and possibly by blood transfusions. Its symptoms vary from person to person and while some people (like me) will feel body aches, fever and show a horrible rash, many others will overcome it without ever even knowing they even had it.
The big issue with Zika is its impact on pregnant women given its alleged link to microcephaly. This is obviously very scary. However, the fact is that the media is making the number of cases of children born with microcephaly from mothers who had Zika while pregnant much larger than it actually is. According to a recent report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), only 1% of pregnant women with Zika have had their babies born with microcephaly. That is, 1 in 100 pregnant women with the virus.
In Brazil, the government has also been unable to establish a direct connection between the Zika virus and birth defects among recent newborns. So far, evidence has shown that most of the babies born with microcephaly in Brazil were born in rural and poor places that are exposed to harsh pesticides and chemicals, which are known to cause birth defects. Doctors have also said that the mix of Zika with viruses like Dengue and Chikungunya (which I have also had, thank you very much) is probably more likely to cause microcephaly than just Zika alone, and because the symptoms are practically the same, people don’t know the difference. Meanwhile, in Colombia, there have been 12,000 cases of Zika in pregnant women and zero microcephaly in any of those cases.
The Zika virus has also been spreading like wildfire in my home, Puerto Rico. Being a tropical island, we are used to having mosquito related diseases and the Zika outbreak feels in some ways as a continuation of last year’s Chikungunya epidemic. However, this time the international media attention has been much greater, affecting our tourism industry, and prompting the U.S. government’s Center for Disease Control to recommend the aerial spray of the controversial pesticide Naled as a way to control the mosquitoes that carry the virus. (Thankfully, after widespread public opposition the dangerous pesticide was not used).
While many pregnant women have gotten the virus, on August 25th, Dr. Ana Rius, the Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Health, stated that the 128 babies that have so far been born in Puerto Rico from mothers who had Zika were born completely healthy without any birth defects.
The Zika virus has also been said to cause the neurological disorder called the Guillain-Barre syndrome. However, there isn’t enough evidence to establish a 100% link Guillain-Barre with the Zika virus, as this syndrome is not new and can be caused by other mosquito related diseased like Dengue and Chikungunya.
Even when, as I have shown, the statistics in varied countries are not proving that Zika is the cause of micro cephalic babies or Guillain-Barre, misleading news stories have continued to run on the media, hurting countries like Puerto Rico and Brazil.
If you want to know how bad the misinformation has been, just turn on the news or listen to what athletes had to say before the past Rio Olympics. Many of them decided not to go to the Olympics, and others decided to buy a war arsenal of mosquito repellant products and ended up becoming a national joke for the ridiculous statements and ignorance. The whole frenzy and ridiculous hysteria was all for nothing, because out of the thousands of people who attended the Olympics this year, there have been zero cases of the Zika virus. That goes to show how out of hand this has gotten, and how ignorance can spread nasty things.
This does not mean people should not be careful and take precautions to repel against mosquitos. Zika is a disease and there are things we can do to prevent its spread. As a Zika survivor and someone who researched the topic, I can say that these mosquitos typically bite during the day, so if you want to protect yourself, use bug spray. You can also use long sleeved shirts and pants, and if you live in areas where mosquitoes abound, you should take special care of your backyard to avoid the accumulation of water, as that is where mosquitoes like to lay their eggs.
The current Zika crisis is a classic case of ignorance-induced panic. If people would only read up on it and look at the cold hard facts, they could formulate their own opinions and stop making inflammatory comments without knowledge. The media also needs to quit publishing harsh and exaggerated stories about Zika that are in some cases disrespectful towards the countries where the virus has hit the hardest. Zika is serious and can be painful. However, I just don’t think it is is worth creating the insane hysteria that has made people basically afraid of living their lives, cancel vacations, and even miss competing in the Olympics. Don’t let a virus clog your rationality and prevent you from living your life
