Brazilian health authorities have instructed women in the country not to get pregnant at the moment after a thousands of infants were believed to have been born with brain damage due to a mosquito-borne virus called Zika.
The pathogen, which is being suspected to have caused such alarming havoc, is discovered in African forest monkeys in new West Nile. Believed to have been discovered over 70 years ago, Zika works in the same way as the West Nile virus.
For starters, West Nile virus is commonly transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, which causes mild symptoms. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some people infected with the virus develops a fever with other symptoms such as headache rash, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches and joint pains.
Most people who get infected with infected with West Nile virus recover completely, but weakness and fatigue can usually last for weeks or even months. On the other hand, though only a few cases recorded, no one should underestimate the pathogen as it has caused serious neurologic illness such as meningitis - the inflammation of the brain and surrounding tissues - and encephalitis in about less than 1% of people who were infected.
The Washing Post reported that the threat sparked when health officials divulged that Zika virus could cause shrinkage of the skull in babies or medically known as microcephaly. Aside from the, it was also found out that the virus can be instituted in the amniotic fluid of two mothers whose offsprings had the condition.
The country has seen more than 2,400 suspected cases of microcephaly this year. Out of it, there were 29 mortalities recorded throughout the year. "This is an unprecedented situation, unprecedented in world scientific research," the ministry said in a statement on its website, CNN shared.
In 2014, the highest jump from 147 cases of microcephaly was seen in the country. The number of cases is so high that health authorities have suggest women to hold off conceiving.
"These are newborns who will require special attention their entire lives. It's an emotional stress that just can't be imagined...," Angela Rocha, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist in Pernambuco, said in an interview. "We're talking about a generation of babies that's going to be affected."
Meanwhile in U.S., CDC has found the virus in a few travelers coming from overseas. However, it stated that there have not come across any cases of people infected by the fatal mosquito virus in the entire country.
With the current health threat bombarding Brazil, what do you think should the authorities do to minimize the havoc that Zika virus had cause? Share to us your thoughts in the comment section below.
