To reduce the spread of the Zika virus in the U.S., health officials are now open to the idea of handing out free condoms at airports. They believe the move would greatly cater to people who are unaware of the new anti-Zika guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. William Schaffner of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases told CNN that the nonprofit organization might promote such a campaign. The idea has already gotten the nod from other health officials in the country.
"It's critical that people have access to condoms," said CDC deputy director Anne Schuchat. "Appropriate use of condoms can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of Zika from men to their partners."
"It sounds like a reasonable public health education campaign," seconded Dr. Donald Thea, a global health professor at Boston University. "It may help get the message to the right audience in a targeted way."
As with most public health recommendations, the notion of free condoms at airports has received a fair amount of doubt. Dr. Hunter Handsfield of the University of Washington Center for AIDS and STD thinks the campaign would be somewhat effective in reducing the spread of the Zika virus in the US. Still, he doubts if it would ever be implemented due to its sheer cost and scope.
According to the official CDC website, there have been 273 travel-associated Zika cases in the US since January 2015. Of all the travel-associated infections, 19 are in pregnant women while 6 were from traveling men who passed the virus to their female partners through sexual contact.
Reports on the Zika virus have become a staple on television screens and online news portals for over a year. However, Yahoo News reported that many Americans still have their facts wrong.
In a nationally represented poll of 1,275 adults earlier this month, researchers at Harvard University found that 40 percent of Americans did not know Zika could be transmitted sexually. Meanwhile, one-third of the respondents thought the virus could be spread through coughs and sneezes.
