The state of Florida announced Wednesday that three pregnant women that had traveled outside the United States tested positive for Zika virus.
To protect their privacy, the state is not revealing the names or places of the women.
Zika has actually been associated along with the birth defect microcephaly and Guillain-Barre, a rare syndrome where the immune system attacks nerves.
Microcephaly is a neurological disorder that outcomes in babies born along with abnormally small heads, causing major developmental complications and sometimes death.
Cases of microcephaly skyrocket in Brazil
Since October, Brazil has actually seen 508 confirmed cases of microcephaly in newborns. A minimum of 17 of those cases have actually a confirmed link to the Zika virus. There were just 146 cases in 2014. So far, 27 babies have actually died from the condition, along with A minimum of 5 linked to Zika. Another 70 deaths are under investigation, and authorities are investigating 3,935 suspected cases.
Other Latin American countries are seeing cases in newborns. Colombia reported a lot more compared to 6,000 pregnant women have actually tested positive for the virus, while in the United States, one baby in Hawaii was born along with Zika-linked microcephaly after his mother returned from Brazil.
Most common mode of transmission
The virus is most often transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito biting an infected person, then spreading it to others.
However, this month, the U.S. Centers for Ailment Manage and Prevention announced it was investigating 14 brand-new reports of feasible sexual transmission of the ZIka virus. The agency said that several of the cases included pregnant women, despite the fact that they did not specify Exactly how many.
It is unclear whether the three Florida cases are section of this group of 14 reports being investigated by the CDC.
According to the Florida Department of Health, all of three cases of the Ailment were acquired while taking a trip outside of the United States.
Currently, the CDC has actually issued an advisory for pregnant women to stay away from taking a trip to Zika-afflicted areas.
Ultrasounds for pregnant women that have actually traveled to infected areas
“Now that all of these birth defects and associated conditions have actually come out, Zika is turning in to a game-changer,” said Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an assistant professor in Emory University’s Department of Environmental Sciences. “Having such an impact on a essential aspect of human reproduction is actually changing the whole paradigm.”
The CDC is asking ob-gyns to review fetal ultrasounds and do maternal testing for any sort of pregnant woman that has actually traveled to among a lot more compared to 30 countries where Zika is active.
The agency advises Good health care providers provide testing for the virus to pregnant women that have actually traveled to those places within two to 12 weeks after returning home.
Providers ought to screen pregnant women along with symptoms of the virus while they are experiencing illness.
Zika symptoms
Zika virus symptoms consist of fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
However, 80% of infected Zika cases won’t demonstrate any sort of symptoms, which is why the CDC is recommending that pregnant women who’ve traveled to infected places still undergo an ultrasound to inspect on the progression of the fetus for intracranial calcifications or microcephaly.
Currently, there are a total of 32 Zika cases in Florida, including the three pregnant women. Upon understanding of the three pregnant women that tested positive for the virus, Florida Governor Rick Scott requested 250 extra Zika antibody examinations for the state.
In February, Scott declared a public Good health emergency in counties along with travel-associated cases of Zika. Currently, that entails 11 counties in the state.
The state of Florida has actually stepped up it’s mosquito-borne health problem surveillance and mosquito Manage efforts. The mosquito transmitting the virus can easily be located throughout the southeastern United States, spanning from eastern Texas to Florida and South Carolina.
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