Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
Health

CDC: Ask Pregnant Women About Trips To Zika Outbreak Areas

IANS, 20 Jan, 2016 11:14 AM
    NEW YORK — U.S. health officials issued new guidance Tuesday for doctors whose pregnant patients may have travelled to regions with a tropical illness linked to birth defects.
     
    Doctors should ask pregnant women about their travel and certain symptoms, and — if warranted — test them for an infection with the Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
     
    If there are signs of an infection or there are other reasons to believe the fetus is affected, ultrasounds should be considered to monitor the baby's development, the CDC advised.
     
    The virus is spread through mosquito bites, and there have been outbreaks in parts of the Caribbean and Latin America. There is no medicine or vaccine for it.
     
    Usually the infection only causes a mild illness, if at all. Most infected people don't develop symptoms. In those that do, the worst of it involves fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes — which usually lasts no more than a week.
     
    But there's mounting evidence linking the infection to a birth defect called microcephaly, in which the head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
     
    Usually rare, more than 3,500 babies with the condition have been reported in Brazil since October. The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and health officials note there are many causes of the condition, including genetics, and exposure during pregnancy to alcohol and certain germs and toxic chemicals.
     
     
    In the Brazil cases, most of the mothers apparently were infected during the first trimester, but there is some evidence the birth defect can occur later in pregnancy, CDC officials have said.
     
    Last week, CDC officials said pregnant women should consider postponing trips to 14 destinations — Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname and Venezuela.
     
    They also advised women who are trying to get pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant to talk to their doctor before travelling to those areas, and to take extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites.
     
    Health officials say no infections have occurred in the United States, except for one in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The kind of mosquitoes that can carry the virus are found in the southwestern United States. The mosquito also spreads other viruses that cause dengue fever and chikungunya.
     
    In the last year, there have been a dozen confirmed cases among U.S. travellers, including two pregnant women in Illinois and one in Hawaii, whose baby was born with the birth defect. She was likely infected while living in Brazil, Hawaii health officials said.
     
    The CDC's priority was to alert pregnant women to the situation, even though there are a lot of lingering questions, said Dr. Tom Frieden, the agency's director.
     
    "There's a lot we don't know," including how much Zika is in the different areas, or how likely it is that Zika infection in a pregnant woman will lead to the birth defect, he added. Perhaps there's another factor which also plays a role in whether a child develops the birth defect, he said Tuesday.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Toronto Lawyer Who Cheated Legal Aid In Notorious Murder Case Disbarred

    Toronto Lawyer Who Cheated Legal Aid In Notorious Murder Case Disbarred
    TORONTO — A lawyer who defended a wealthy former police officer accused of killing his lover and stuffing her remains in a trash bin has been disbarred for cheating legal aid of close to $120,000.

    Toronto Lawyer Who Cheated Legal Aid In Notorious Murder Case Disbarred

    Report Examines How Toronto Boy Got Food Allergies From Blood Transfusions

    Report Examines How Toronto Boy Got Food Allergies From Blood Transfusions
    TORONTO — A boy being cared for at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children got more than he bargained for when he was given blood transfusions while being treated for a brain tumour.

    Report Examines How Toronto Boy Got Food Allergies From Blood Transfusions

    Breastfeeding Women Treat Sex As Survival Strategy

    Breastfeeding Women Treat Sex As Survival Strategy
    In a first such study that focuses on how women experience sex after having babies, US researchers have revealed that more time in the bedroom after delivery may be a survival strategy to keep the relationships with their partners alive and well.

    Breastfeeding Women Treat Sex As Survival Strategy

    Quit Smoking As It Won't Make You Shed Fat

    Quit Smoking As It Won't Make You Shed Fat
    Even as the idea that smoking helps control weight is baseless, women smokers who believe so are less likely to try quitting in response to anti-smoking policies than other female smokers, research has found.

    Quit Smoking As It Won't Make You Shed Fat

    Two Southern Ontario Farms Quarantined After Avian Influenza Hits Turkey Farm

    Two Southern Ontario Farms Quarantined After Avian Influenza Hits Turkey Farm
    The CFIA says the farm, and a neighbouring farm in the Woodstock, Ont., area, have been placed under quarantine to control disease spread, and the industry has been notified to adopt enhanced cleaning and disinfection measures.

    Two Southern Ontario Farms Quarantined After Avian Influenza Hits Turkey Farm

    Even Diet Soft Drinks Can Expand Your Waistline

    Even Diet Soft Drinks Can Expand Your Waistline
    If you drink diet soda thinking it will help you shed unwanted belly fat, nothing could be further from the truth, says a new study.

    Even Diet Soft Drinks Can Expand Your Waistline