Thursday, January 28, 2016

Zika-The next Ebola?

Zika virus is a member of the flavivirus group currently spreading wildly across the Americas, especially the Latin America.

Okay, it's just another virus.Who cares?
Zika virus spreads by a mosquito bite,Aedes aegypti. 80% of the affected population are asymptomatic. Its manifests itself as a fever, headache,  joint pains and rarely conjunctivitis just like any other flu. Basically you don't know you have it.

A headache and joint pain epidemic? Stop kidding me. 


But its not the general population that is at risk. The pregnant females affected with Zika have been found to give birth to babies with microcephaly(due to impaired development of some parts of the brain). This causes developmental delays and also death. A strong association has been found between microcephaly babies and Zika as Zika has been detected in the amniotic fluid of these women. Also reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome have been associated in these babies.

But why is it dangerous?
As most of the cases are asymptomatic and it spreads through mosquitoes it is difficult to detect and spreads effortlessly. There is also no cure and vaccine for this virus currently.

With numbers fast rising, confirmed cases across 24 countries, thousands already affected and potential millions at risk Zika is touted as the next big epidemic. WHO has announced a travel advice Alert Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions in all these countries.

Pregnant women have been advised to opt out of traveling to these countries.
The Brazil Health authorities have gone to the extent of advising their female population not to get pregnant, at least for the next 2 years.

With the holiday season ahead, if you're having trouble zero-ing in on the place to visit, you know the first place to strike off your list :P


2 comments:

  1. Hey Hi, amazing read on zika would like to request a mnemonic/video on OVARIAN TUMOURS :'( .Just too much to absorb :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks there! Sure, we'll try to put that up soon. Keep following the blog. :)

      Delete

This is express yourself space. Where you type create something beautiful! <3
Wondering what do I write? Well...
Tell us something you know better. You are a brilliant mind. Yes, you are! ^__^
Ask about something you don't understand @_@?
Compliment... Say something nice! =D
Be a good critic and correct us if something went wrong :|
Go ahead. Comment all you like here! (:

PS: We have moderated comments to reduce spam. ALL comments that are not spam will be published on the website.