The Zika virus has overtaken the news. The virus has recently become a national health emergency and is a concerning disease, but it is especially dangerous to women who are or plan to become pregnant. The virus is passed through a mosquito bite, but not all mosquitos carry the virus, meaning avoiding areas with mosquitos that carry the virus is the most effective mode of prevention. So in order to move forward with caution, it is important to actually understand what the virus really is. Not everyone who gets infected with the Zika virus becomes ill; only about one in five people do.
The symptoms of the virus include fever, rash, joint pain, and headaches. These symptoms are usually pretty mild and can last from several days to a couple of weeks. The virus does not make people sick enough to go to the hospital, and it is very rare to die from the virus, but it can be very dangerous for pregnant women due to birth defects recently found in babies. Doctors are not positive that it is the Zika virus that is causing birth defects in babies, but they are almost positive that it is the source. The brain defect recently found in babies is called microcephaly, which includes a smaller head and incomplete brain growth.
Another dangerous aspect about microcephaly is that it cannot be recognized until later in the pregnancy. Doctors are confused about the brain defect because there is numerous causes of microcephaly. Some of which include drug abuse, alcoholism, and malnutrition. However, doctors are convinced that the virus is another trigger. The virus outbreak began in Brazil in 2015, and since then, there have been 4,000 babies born with microcephaly.
Even though doctors are convinced Zika is another trigger, they are unsure how and when the mother passes the virus on to the fetus. However, they think that women are much more at risk of passing the virus on to the fetus if they are infected early in their pregnancy. Because of the prevalence of the virus in South America, the CDC is advising pregnant women not to travel where the disease is especially widespread. Recently, there have been a few cases in the United States, causing further outcry.
Although the disease has become a crisis, and it is important to be aware of what exactly the disease is, it is not necessary to panic yet. The best mode of defense is avoidance of areas with mosquitos that carry the disease. Because of the severity of the disease, doctors are scrambling to find a cure, and I am sure that plenty more information about the virus will be released in the next few weeks and months.
