The deadly and life-changing Zika virus has caused concern all over the world for its links to neurological disorders and mounting evidence that it causes microcephaly, the birth defect that affects the size of a newborn’s head.
Local cases
And San Antonio isn’t out of the woods when it comes to the disease. According to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, three cases of Zika have been confirmed locally. All of the cases were travel-related and not contracted in the U.S. A total of 33 people are under investigation for possible infection, according to a news release by the department. Tests for seven others came back negative.
Statewide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Texas has had 23 reported cases of the virus as of March 23. All of these cases were not contracted in the U.S., as well.
On sex and pregnancy concerning Zika
The spread of Zika across the world sparked a seminar on management of the disease. Dozens of people gathered at the Phil Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center on Wednesday to learn about Zika, how to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes -- which carry the disease -- and how to handle the often overwhelming concerns about it.
Molly Keck, an entomologist from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, said Zika was discovered in monkeys in 1947 and the first case in humans came in the 1950s. But there’s been more cases in the last six months than in the last 15 years and Keck said she doesn’t know why.
Reported Zika Virus Cases in the United States | HealthGrove
“Don’t panic from it,” she said. “Don’t stop going outside and stop carrying on your regular life. Just know that just like any summer, there are mosquitoes that could potentially transmit diseases. Your chance of getting it is pretty small but there is still that chance.”
Low risk
It remains low-risk, Keck said. At the same time, it’s best to avoid any and all mosquito bites this spring and summer.
“If you’re wearing repellent and you’re covering up your body, which is not going to be easy in the summer time, as long as you don’t get a mosquito bite, you’re not going to get Zika, unless you have a partner who is a male who has Zika,” Keck said.
There are only three ways to contract Zika:
- Mother to child
- Mosquito to human; humans can give it back to mosquitoes
- Male who has Zika can give it to his sexual partners through semen
Typically, there are no specific or exclusive symptoms of the Zika virus, and there’s no vaccine or medication to treat it. Hallmarks of the virus, if any, could be flu-like conditions, joint aches and sometimes red-eye.
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The big concern is with the disorders the disease is believed to cause, from neurological to Guillain-Barre syndrome to the most widely talked about: microcephaly, the birth defect that causes a newborn’s head to be smaller than it should be. Alarmingly, microcephaly has also caused newborns who tested positive for the virus to die shortly after birth. Fetal malformations have occurred in Brazil and French Polynesia.
What can be done
As in other mosquito-related concerns, removing standing water and wearing insect repellent are the strongest and best ways to prevent mosquitoes from hatching and eventually biting you. Also dressing in long sleeves and pants and staying indoors around dawn and dusk will sharply reduce the risk of getting bitten by a mosquito.
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Not all mosquitoes carry Zika. But the chance is still there.
“Our goal in this is just to educate the public on how they can reduce mosquitoes in their backyard and a little bit about the Zika virus because we don’t want this to take off and we don’t want people to get it, and education is the key with this disease specifically,” Keck said.