Zika: Don’t panic, says Lankan doc
View(s):Tiny it may be but it has become the bane of men, women and children as it fires virus-shots through its bite. Zika is the latest and is part of the ‘arsenal’ of diseases this insect-vector, lets loose from time to time including dengue, chikungunya, West Nile virus and yellow fever. The Zika virus was first discovered in Uganda in 1947.
Daniele Santos, 29, holds her son Juan Pedro who is 2-months-old and born with microcephaly, after bathing him at their house in Recife, Brazil. REUTERS
Identified by distinct white stripes on its long black legs, this mosquito which usually takes bites of blood from humans during the day is Aedes aegypti and to a lesser degree Aedes albopictus, MediScene learns.
“There is no need to panic as Zika is a mild disease and it has not been reported yet in Sri Lanka,” says Consultant Medical Virologist Dr. Janaki Abeynayake of the Medical Research Institute (MRI), urging however that we should attempt to keep it away from our shores.
With the world becoming a global village and people crisscrossing from country to country, there is a possibility that travellers from the Zika-hit regions, primarily Venezuela, Brazil and Columbia in South America, Mexico and also the Caribbean could “import” the virus, as has happened in the Maldives, Thailand and China, says Dr. Abeynayake.
Stressing that only about 20% who get infected are symptomatic (show symptoms), she points out that it would manifest as “just a fever” which passes after a The incubation period (the development of the infection from the time of the entry of the virus through the mosquito-bite into the body and the appearance of symptoms) is about seven days, it is learnt. If the patient is symptomatic the virus could be in the blood for 10-14 days.
The signs and symptoms of Zika are:
- Fever
- A skin rash
- Conjunctivitis (redness of the eyes)
- Joint and muscle pain
Referring to disease-transmission, Dr. Abeynayake says that it is established that Zika is mosquito-borne. Speculation and suggestions that there could be transmission through sexual contact, blood transfusions and even saliva have not been confirmed yet. “Nothing is proven in this regard.”
There is no vaccine to prevent infection by Zika, while there is also no anti-viral medication to treat this illness. Therefore, doctors will deal with the symptoms, she says, adding that pain and fever relief and prevention of dehydration are important. Patients should also have adequate rest for a few days.
According to Dr. Abeynayake the MRI has molecular testing through real-time PCR to confirm whether someone has contracted Zika.
| Pregnant mothers should avoid high-risk countries There are medical concerns that even though Zika is a mild disease, expectant mothers who get exposed to this virus at any time during their pregnancy could give birth to babies with abnormally small heads linked to under-developed brains (microcephaly). Studies are being conducted to assess the risk association between Zika and microcephaly, says Dr. Janaki Abeynayake, advising expectant mothers not to travel to high-risk areas in the world where Zika is rampaging. This is as the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the strengthening of surveillance and preventive measures against the Zika Virus disease which is “strongly suspected to have a causal relation with clusters of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities”. The WHO has declared the recent clusters of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in the Americas region as ‘a Public Health Emergency of International Concern’. Usually microcephaly in the foetus follows the mother contracting a viral infection such as rubella, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster and herpes simplex, says Dr. Abeynayake, adding that Zika is also being associated with Guillain Barre (ascending paralysis) syndrome, although nothing is yet proven. | |