All you need to know about the Zika virus

The Zika virus disease has “explosive” pandemic potential, with outbreaks in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas, says an article published by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Wednesday.     

According to a BBC report, the World Health Organization says the virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas.  

The current outbreak of the virus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), came to light when the Pan American Health Organisation issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. 

According to the CDC, areas with active transmission of the virus are confined to countries in Southern and Central America. However, the virus’ spread over time is difficult to determine, warns the agency.  

The situation has forced public health officials in El Salvador to advise women to put off pregnancies for the next two years to avoid passing on complications from the mosquito-borne Zika virus.  

This move was prompted by reports which said that some countries with Zika, such as Brazil, have seen spikes in the number of cases of microcephaly, a rare brain defect in babies. Infants suffering from the condition tend to have smaller than normal heads and their brains do not fully develop.   

Method of transmission: 

• The Zika virus is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.

• According to the CDC, a mother infected with the virus near the time of delivery can pass on the virus to a newborn baby at the time of birth. However, the CDC adds that such cases are rare. Additionally, the agency says that it is possible that the virus can be passed from mother to foetus during pregnancy and such a method of transmission is under investigation. 

Symptoms: 

• According to the CDC, about one in five people infected with the Zika virus will actually become ill. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. Additionally, infected people who develop the disease may also suffer from muscle pain and headaches. The time between exposure to the virus and emergence of symptoms of the Zika virus disease is not known. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya — diseases spread through the same mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus. 

• The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. Severe cases requiring hospitalisation are uncommon and the agency adds that deaths reported due to the disease are rare.

Treatment: 

• Currently no vaccines or specific medications are available to prevent or treat Zika infections according to the CDC. According to the JAMA article, an effective and safe Zika virus vaccine is probably 3-10 years away even with accelerated research.  

• The CDC has cautioned people to not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen and naproxen. The agency has advised that Aspirin and NSAIDs should be avoided until dengue can be ruled out to reduce the risk of hemorrhage

Zika and microcephaly: 

• The Zika virus has been associated with cases of microcephaly — a congenital condition which leads to a shrunken head circumference and developmental problems in children.  

• According to the JAMA article, Brazil has reported nearly 4000 cases of suspected microcephaly in 2015, representing a 20-fold increase from 2010 through 2014. The article adds that evidence of the Zika virus has been found in the placenta and amniotic fluid of mothers and in the brains of foetuses or newborns. However, causation between Zika virus and microcephaly is not yet established. 

What you must do if you are infected: 

• The Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to another mosquito through mosquito bites during the first week of infection, warns the CDC. An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people. In order to prevent further spread of the virus, infected individuals should avoid mosquito bites during the first week of illness.