#95 The Zika Virus (English)

The Zika virus is a member of a virus family that is transmitted by mosquitoes and was first discovered within the Zika Forest of Uganda. It is a member of the Flavidviridae family and often causes no or mild symptoms. Zika is quite an old virus and only recently experts have been worried about as it only had affected a concentrated area however once it began to spread, people became more aware about the serious consequences it could have

1.Areas with Zika

Prior to 2015, Zika virus outbreaks occures in Africa and Asia aswell as the Pacific Island howevere in 2015 it began to spread to Brazil and has been continuing to spread and i twill be difficult to determine how and where the virus will spread over time. Zika has begun to spread to American territories such as Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

2. What happens if you get Zika?

The serious problem with this virus is that in most cases, it causes no symptoms at all and therefore patients that have Zika don’t seek any medical attention. However if you do receive symptoms they tend to be low evers, sore body, heady ache as well as red eyes anda body rash.

A patient that is aware of Zika can be treated simply by taking medication such as Tylenol to relieve the fever or pain and to take other anti inflammatory drugs to make sure no swelling starts to occur. The main treatment is to drink fluids to prevent dehydration and to get plenty of rest.

Zika is not spread from human to human but by mosquitoes however there have been some special cases in which one has gotten the Zika virus without getting stung by the mosquito himself. If a Zika transmitting mosquito bites a human and then a normal mosquito that gives mosquito bites, bites the same person and then goes a long to bite another the nit is possible for this second person to be affected by the Zika Virus. It is possible for Zika to be sexually transmitted however only spreads from men to women and not vice versa. Also, Zika can be spread during labour and blood transfusion. Furthermore, Zika seems to live in saliva and urine however it is not cleat if it can be spread through these fluids just yet

Zika and Pregnancy

Zika virus can be passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy. Zika affected mother can lead their babies to develop microcephaly which is a birth defect that is associated with a small head and incomplete brain development in newborns.

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