Brazilian doctors are giving out some advice to women these days: Don't get pregnant and wait after mosquito season ends. Health officials linked a recent outbreak of a mosquito-borne virus called Zika linked to babies being born with microcephaly, a rare neurological disorder in infants in which the size of the brain is abnormally small.“It’s a very personal decision, but at this moment of uncertainty, if families can put off their pregnancy plans, that’s what we’re recommending,” Angela Rocha, the pediatric infectologist at Oswaldo Cruz Hospital in Pernambuco, told CNN.
According to AP, "Brazil alone estimates it's already had between 440,000 and 1.3 million cases of Zika since the first local transmission of the virus was detected in May." The illness was first identified in the Americas less than two years ago and has spread quickly across South and Central America. "These are newborns who will require special attention their entire lives. It's an emotional stress that just can't be imagined," Rocha said. "Here in Pernambuco, we're talking about a generation of babies that's going to be affected."
The Brazilian health ministry said in a statement that research on the borne virus should continue to "clarify issues such as how it is transmitted, what it does to the body, how the fetus gets infected and the time of greatest vulnerability for pregnant women."
What is Zika? 5 Essential facts about the mosquito-borne virus
According to the World Health Organization, Zika fever was first discovered in Uganda in the 1940s and is a mosquito-borne flavivirus closely related to dengue virus. The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the same insect responsible for the spread of yellow fever, dengue and chikungunya.
- Zika virus is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes.
- The disease has similar clinical signs to dengue, and may be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue is common.
- There is no cure for Zika virus disease. Treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.
- It causes mild fever and rash
- Symptoms include muscle pain, joint pain, headache, pain behind the eyes and conjunctivitis.
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