Health Update: Dr. Mary Diana, Medical DirectorZika virus is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus). These species are common in Central and South America, but have now made their way north and have been found in Puerto Rico and Florida. New York State has one of the highest numbers of Zika cases in the U.S., although all of these are associated with travel.
While Zika is primarily a mosquito-borne infection, it can also be transmitted sexually through bodily fluids. The vast majority of sexually transmitted cases are from a male traveler to a female partner. There have recently been cases of female-to-male and male-to-male transmission. No one knows how long the virus stays alive in the blood/semen.
The CDC recommends that men who have had a symptomatic Zika infection use condoms for 6 months. If they have traveled to an area where Zika is common, but don’t develop any symptoms, they should use condoms for 6 weeks.
Symptoms of Zika infection are headache, fever, joint or muscle pain, conjunctivitis (pink eye), rash, and vomiting. Some people don’t have any symptoms. There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika virus. The infection is self-limited, and usually resolves by itself within a week. Routine testing/screening of the general population for Zika virus is not recommended. Recently, Zika virus infection has been associated with development of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare neurologic condition involving weakness and sometimes, paralysis. Research is being done to better understand this link.
Zika is a very serious problem in pregnancy. It is passed from the mother’s blood through the placenta to the fetus. Fetuses who become infected during the late first trimester or early second trimester develop severe microcephaly (a condition in which the brain is markedly underdeveloped) as well as other serious irreversible neurologic birth defects. Zika infection later in pregnancy can lead to low birth weight and stillbirth.
Since there is no treatment for Zika virus infection, preventing infection is paramount. Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant should avoid travel to areas where Zika is endemic and should avoid having unprotected sex with men who have travelled to these areas. Women who live in endemic areas are advised to prevent mosquito bites by using insect repellants, window screens and mosquito netting, and by wearing long sleeves and pants. If a woman has had a Zika virus infection, she should wait at least 8 weeks before trying to become pregnant.
Policy Update: Katherine Bruno, VP Public Affairs
Recently the Senate finally passed a bipartisan Continuing Resolution (CR) and Zika funding package and the House is expected to pass the bill before the end of the week, averting a government shutdown and funding the government through December 9, 2016.
We can’t believe it took Congress more than 220 days to approve funding to fight the Zika virus without excluding some of the providers most qualified to help. It shouldn’t have taken this long, but this is still welcome news for women in the Capital Region and around the country.
With the serious risks Zika poses for pregnant women, we are not surprised that medical experts have consistently said that family planning providers must play a central role in preventing the spread of this virus. What surprises us is that some in Congress managed to ignore that guidance for months, trying to jam through a bill that excluded family planning providers. Thankfully, this funding demonstrates importance of family planning providers in combatting Zika, and more broadly, in providing basic health care to women, men and young people.
Planned Parenthood is here to make sure that all women, men and young people the Capital Region and all over the nation have access to the information, health care and support necessary to decide to prevent unintended pregnancy, safely end a pregnancy, or carry a pregnancy to term and raise a child. We believe that all people should be empowered to make decisions for themselves and their families, including the decision of whether to have a child, no matter who they are or where they live.
Recently the Senate finally passed a bipartisan Continuing Resolution (CR) and Zika funding package and the House is expected to pass the bill before the end of the week, averting a government shutdown and funding the government through December 9, 2016.
We can’t believe it took Congress more than 220 days to approve funding to fight the Zika virus without excluding some of the providers most qualified to help. It shouldn’t have taken this long, but this is still welcome news for women in the Capital Region and around the country.
With the serious risks Zika poses for pregnant women, we are not surprised that medical experts have consistently said that family planning providers must play a central role in preventing the spread of this virus. What surprises us is that some in Congress managed to ignore that guidance for months, trying to jam through a bill that excluded family planning providers. Thankfully, this funding demonstrates importance of family planning providers in combatting Zika, and more broadly, in providing basic health care to women, men and young people.
Planned Parenthood is here to make sure that all women, men and young people the Capital Region and all over the nation have access to the information, health care and support necessary to decide to prevent unintended pregnancy, safely end a pregnancy, or carry a pregnancy to term and raise a child. We believe that all people should be empowered to make decisions for themselves and their families, including the decision of whether to have a child, no matter who they are or where they live.
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