IMA ZIKA Update

IMA ZIKA update

WHO will convene an emergency meeting Monday to determine if the Zika virus outbreak should be declared a public health emergency?

WHO director Margaret Chan, speaking in Geneva, said the "level of alarm is extremely high."

And a vaccine for Zika is still a decade away. (BBC)

IMA alert: Pregnant women should avoid traveling to countries at risk of mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is strongly suspected of causing microcephaly and possible Guillain-Barré syndrome.

The countries at risk are :

1.     Brazil,

2.     Colombia,

3.     El Salvador,

4.     French Guiana,

5.     Guatemala,

6.     Haiti,

7.     Honduras,

8.     Martinique,

9.     Mexico,

10.  Panama,

11.  Paraguay,

12.  Suriname,

13.  Venezuela

14.  Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

15.  Barbados,

16.  Bolivia,

17.  Ecuador,

18.  Guadeloupe,

19.  Saint Martin,

20.  Guyana

21.  Cape Verde

22.  Samoa

23.  U.S. Virgin Islands

24.  Dominican Republic

WHO warned that the Zika virus, will likely spread to all but two countries in North, Central and South America. Transmission is probable because the Aedes mosquitoes, which spread the virus, populate the entire region except for Canada and continental Chile

Brazil has counted a surge of almost 4000 cases of microcephaly in new-borns since October 2015. The abnormally small heads of these babies often are accompanied by incomplete brain development, which can lead to a lifetime of health problems. In severe cases, newborns do not survive for long. Faced with these risks, Colombia and El Salvador have urged women to delay becoming pregnant — in the case of El Salvador, until 2018.

Women who have made such trips and develop Zika symptoms — fever, rash, muscle aches, and conjunctivitis — during or within 2 weeks of their travel should be tested for the virus. Clinicians should report positive tests to the appropriate local or state health department. In addition, they should schedule regular ultrasounds to monitor fetal growth in Zika-positive pregnant women.

For adults, a Zika infection is generally a mild illness. Only one in five individuals who catch the virus develops symptoms, which usually disappear within a week.