Should You Postpone Travel To Zika-Hit Countries and Other FAQs

There’s a lot of panic right now which is understandable, but not necessary.

The World Health Organization said earlier in the week that the virus could infect up to 4 million people this year. Authorities in Brazil suspect that the disease could potentially be linked to a condition called microcephaly, in which newborns have a shrunk head. (Photo: Reuters)

Every time there’s a major infectious disease outbreak, it scares the daylight out of us. The Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic in 2009, MERS in 2012, Ebola outbreak in 2014 and now Zika in the Caribbean and South America, mainly Brazil.

So how did Zika, which started in May 2015, become a crisis? Why didn’t the health authorities do enough to prevent it? What should be done to make it go away?

Scroll below to get all the answers on the disease which is potentially linked to microcephaly, a condition in which newborns are born with a shrunken head and severe disability.

The virus is believed to have resulted in more than 4000 babies born with abnormally small heads, brain damage and disability in Brazil. There’s no treatment for Zika. There’s no vaccine. There’s no immunity against it. Yet Zika is no Ebola and India shouldn’t panic. Not yet.

How Do You Get Zika?

The virus originated in monkeys in Uganda in 1947. It was first detected in humans in 1952 and since then has broken out in parts of Tanzania, Uganda, southern Americas. The current outbreak started in May 2015 in Brazil (Photo: iStock)

It is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female Aedes mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Experts say it might also spread through sexual intercourse and blood transfusions, but no one knows for sure. However, till now it hasn’t spread from the mother’s breast milk to the child.

What Is It Like To Get Zika?

Feels like mild flu.

Only 1 in 5 people show symptoms, the rest don’t even realise they have the virus because there are no symptoms. That’s a real problem though, because they can unknowingly spread the virus to other Aedes mosquitoes and with global travel the disease keeps spreading.

Symptoms

The symptoms are mild. 20% of people who become ill might have fever for a maximum of one week, skin rash, conjunctivitis, joint pain and headache.

Hospitalisation is very low and the World Health Organisation says, till now no deaths from Zika have been reported.

Treatment

There is no treatment but like most viral fevers, people who are sick are usually put on fluids and get supportive care with painkillers.

Why Is It Spreading So Quickly?

Virologists don’t understand why a subtropical virus which was so rare has spread to 24 countries in the last year. Increased international travel has a role to play, but many experts think warm global temperatures could be responsible.

Zika affected countries highlighted above (Photo courtesy: CDC Atlanta)

How Does It Impact Pregnant Women?

Scientists ‘think’ Zika might be behind microcephaly in newborns in Brazil on the hunch that since the disease started spreading the number of children being born with the crippling disease has gone up from fewer than 200 cases per year to more than 4000 in 2015. It is still being studied whether the link is real or were other environmental factors responsible.

Postpone Your Travel to Zika Affected Countries If You Are Pregnant

As a precaution, you can skip travel to the Zika affected countries if you’re expecting a child. Like United States, India has not released any traffic restrictions to affected countries yet but a host of airlines are offering a refund or credit if you cancel because of Zika. So be sure to ask about that.

If You Are Planning a Pregnancy & Have To Travel To a Zika Affected Country

Consult with your doctor before the trip and use plenty of repellent all the time to ward off mosquitoes. The virus clears itself from the blood pretty quickly so it will not pose a risk of birth defects for future pregnancies, so take a chill pill.

Is India At Risk?

Workers carry out fumigation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina has confirmed its first case of the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus (Photo: Reuters)

Every one is at risk except countries which are freezing right now, because mosquitoes can’t survive there.

No case of Zika has been reported in India so far but it could just be a matter of time because there are no screening mechanism in place to check travellers coming from affected countries.

That said, the symptoms are like mild flu, they pass in a week’s time and the connection with Gillian Barre Syndrome or microcephaly hasn’t been scientifically validated.

So the best you can do right now is don’t let any water stagnate. Remember how the dengue mosquito breeds in stagnant, fresh water? Apply bug repellent and consider postponing your travel to affected countries.

Finally

This virus has spread outside the dense pockets of Africa for the first time. It has never reached the current proportions before which implies that only now are scientists learning about its full effects. So it is totally possible that the scare is a hype or the side-effects are under-stated. Either way, further research is required.

For now, lather on some mosquito repellent.