Colombia reports 42,706 cases, including 7,653 in pregnant women, 3 deaths, one probable case of microcephaly

[Gert van der Hoek]

October 17, 2015 /

Health authorities confirmed 9 cases of the Zika virus in Colombia

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection reported Saturday that were confirmed in the north of the country nine cases of Zika, a virus transmitted by a mosquito of the genus Aedes virus, the same one that causes dengue and chikungunya.

"Just as happened with chikungunya, Zika virus arrived in Colombia to stay," said Deputy Minister of Public Health and Health Services Delivery, Fernando Ruiz G?mez, in a statement.

The official said the virus was probably introduced to the country by a tourist who arrived in the resort of Cartagena, in the Colombian Caribbean.

And 9 cases were confirmed after the National Institutes of Health, NIH, made 98 tests in the department of Bolivar, 13 of which were made in Cartagena and 85 in the town of Turbaco.

"That would mean that a foreign tourist had been bitten by infected mosquitoes that transmitted the virus and this started the chain of infection in the capital of Bolivar," he added.

The deputy minister said that this "is a disease that was introduced in America by Easter Island and then appeared in Brazil," and recalled that since June, warned that "was imminent arrival of this virus to the country."

According to the general director of the INS, Martha Lucia Ospina Martinez, cases were ascertained through field work, laboratory diagnosis, sending a sample to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta (USA) and the validation of the test done in the country.

The zika can cause, although not very high fever; red eyes without discharge without itching; rash with white or red dots and less frequently muscle and joint pain, explained the ministry in a statement, noting that the disease "causes symptoms in only one out of five people infected."

[Gert van der Hoek]

Colombia confirmed 129 cases of Zika virus

Havana, October 29 (RHC) The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia confirmed Thursday that so far in the country recorded 129 cases of the Zika virus, a disease that is transmitted through a mosquito of the genus Aedes, the same that carries the chikungunya and dengue.

The deputy minister called for women in the last trimester of pregnancy, people over 60 and under two, go immediately to the doctor if they have symptoms of the disease, explained that takes five to ten days, and no sequelae.

On 16 October, the Ministry of Health reported nine cases of Zika virus, officials said, was introduced to the country by a tourist who arrived in the resort of Cartagena, in the Colombian Caribbean.

The rapid spread of the virus has raised concerns in Colombia, where they still feel the effects of chikungunya, which caused between September 2014 and September 2015 some 439,000 infections.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Colombia confirmed in 129 cases of Zika virus

Bogot?, October 29 (EFE) .- The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia confirmed today that to date in the country recorded 129 cases of the Zika virus, which is transmitted through a mosquito of the genus Aedes, the same which carries the chikungunya and dengue.

"Until yesterday (October 28) have 129 cases," he told Caracol Radio Deputy Minister of Public Health and Health Services Delivery, Fernando Ruiz.

The official explained that the infections were recorded mainly in warm regions of Colombia as Bol?var, C?rdoba, Sucre, San Andr?s and Norte de Santander, while other possible cases in Casanare, Cundinamarca and Cali are studied.

adding 2nd source

[Gert van der Hoek]

The Zika has infected 237 Colombians

The National Institute of Health recorded cases in 17 of the 32 departments.

04/11/2015

In Bolivar, Antioquia and Santander, the majority of cases, the National Institutes of Health,is investigating 150 suspects and confirmed 237, which are concentrated in 17 of the 32 departments of the country.

The Ministry of Health warned that the virus, transmitted by the mosquito Aedes Aegipty, which also spread of Dengue and Chikungunya, come to stay in the country.

Front Zika outbreak, health authorities forward the active search for suspected cases, specimen collection and prevention activities in affected communities.

[Gert van der Hoek]

NOVEMBER 11, 2015 - 9:13 A.M.

Already more than 340 cases infected by Zika virus in Colombia


The National Institutes of Health said investigating 486 suspected cases of the virus being Cartagena city most affected by the disease.

In its latest epidemiological bulletin, the National Health Institute (INS) reported that they have been confirmed 341 positive cases of Zika virus in Colombia-disease that is transmitted by the same mosquito responsible for dengue and chikungunya - distributed in 22 of the 36 territorial entities of the country.

According to the Institute, most cases occur in the departments of Bol?var (81 cases), Antioquia (47), Norte de Santander (44), San Andr?s (37) and Risaralda , with 18 cases.

Moreover, the INS said 486 suspects have been reported cases of viru s , 185-, with Cartagena being the city most affected by the disease.

"There have been 486 suspected cases reported to the national surveillance system (SIVIGILA), from 20 of the 36 local authorities, with a higher frequency in the district of Cartagena (38.1%) " , said the entity.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Five people have already been sickened by the virus Zika in Valle del Cauca, as confirmed by the National Institute of Health analysis.

According to the report of the INS, four of the cases recorded in Cali and one in the city of Tulua.

The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the same that can ill with Dengue and Chikungunya.
The Ministry of Health has not delivered Valley details of the health of the infected patients.

Since beginning of the month, the deputy health minister, Fernando Ruiz, said he suspected cases were studied in the city and also in Casanare and Cundinamarca.
The Zika is a disease that causes fever and rashes, symptoms appear 3-12 days after the person has been bitten by the mosquito. The infection can also occur moderately or without symptoms.

So far, the INS has confirmed 488 cases and 1,589 suspected cases reported nationwide Zika. The departments with the most reported cases are Bol?var (87), Antioquia (75) and North Santander (62).

In the Pacific region have been laboratory confirmed 11 cases, from Valle (5) and Nari?o (6).

[Gert van der Hoek]

The director of the National Institute of Health, Martha Lucia Ospina, he said that among the 650 confirmed cases in the country and more than 3,000 suspects, there are 37 pregnant with Zika and 73 less than a year, adding that cases of the virus but are few, he explained, have a large distribution in the country.

[Gert van der Hoek]

From MoH Colombia, Epidemiological Bulletin 51 - 20-26 dec 2015

From confirmation of Zika virus circulation (ZIKAV)
in the country and as a result of intensified surveillance work
dengue, chikungunya and other diseases by eruptive
INS virology laboratory have been confirmed by laboratory
to epidemiological week 51 of 2015 a total 736 positive cases
the ZIKV, including 28 of the 36 local authorities. They
They have been reported 9280 suspected cases to the surveillance system
national epidemiological (SIVIGILA) from 34 of the 36
local authorities.

[Gert van der Hoek]

14 pregnant women suffer from the Zika virus in Colombia

Health authorities are investigating whether 216 other pregnants from 23 local territories and 53 municipalities also suffer from this disease.

LA W RADIO | January 4, 2016

14 pregnant women in Colombia have tested positive of the Zika virus, notified by the virology laboratory of the National Institute of Health, the territorial entity which has reported more cases is the department of Norte de Santander with 80 pregnant women (37.04%), confirmed the entity.

According to the INS, A confirmation from the Zika virus circulating in the country have been laboratory confirmed a total 736 positive cases, including 28 of the 36 local authorities. For their part, they have been reported 9280 suspected cases to national surveillance system (SIVIGILA) from 34 of the 36 local territories.

[Gert van der Hoek]

JANUARY 12, 2016


BOGOTA. Bogot? A total of 11,712 cases of Zika virus had been reported in Colombia at the end of 2015, of which 1,834 were suspected and 297 were women in gestation, according to the National Institutes of Health.


In a report of the entity attached to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection known today by Efe it indicated that 746 cases have been laboratory-confirmed cases and 9,132 patients with symptoms of the disease. Zika virus, which is transmitted through a mosquito of the genus Aedes, the same that carries the chikungunya and dengue was detected in the country since October.

"Cases have been confirmed by laboratory in 163 municipalities of the country, of which 78 (47.85%) correspond to the Central Region" and 29 (17.79%) to the Caribbean, the document added. Antioquia, the report said, is the department with the largest number of municipalities (22) laboratory-confirmed cases. About clinically confirmed cases and suspects, indicated that "most often" seen in the Caribbean region, with 4,822 positive patients.

While "eight suspected cases are from local authorities and 94 municipalities." The figures listed have been notified of 297 cases of women who are pregnant, 69 of which are considered suspects. The zika is not usually a fatal disease, but the incidence in pregnant women during the first three months of pregnancy has been linked to cases of microcephaly.

[Gert van der Hoek]

COLOMBIA - WEEKLY EPIDEMIOLOGICAL BULLETIN

Epidemiological week number 01 2016
januari 14, 2016

Some snips:


From confirmation of Zika virus circulation (ZIKAV)
at home and the beginning of the epidemic phase (weeks
epidemiological 40, 2015) until the epidemiological week 01
2016 have reported a total 776 confirmed cases
laboratory in 28 of the 36 local authorities 10
837 clinically confirmed cases from 26 to 36
local authorities and 1918 suspected cases from
32 of the 36 local authorities. To date, it has reported a
Total 13 531 cases of illness throughout the Zika virus
country (see Table 28).

It has been confirmed virologic circulation in 178 municipalities
country, with 82 of which correspond to 46.1%
the Central Region and 37 with 20.8% correspond to the Region
Caribbean. Antioquia is the territorial entity with the largest number of
Municipalities laboratory confirmed (see map 7) cases.

In EW 01, 1613 cases were reported
from 29 of the 36 local authorities, including 1,273
cases are confirmed by clinical cases and 340
suspected cases. No confirmed cases admitted to SIVIGILA
laboratory.
Notification curve shows a significant increase
reporting of cases from the epidemiological week 40
2015, the highest income cases a monitoring system
SE presented at the epidemiological week 50 of 2015 with 1680 cases. The average of the last five notification
weeks was 1446 cases / week (see Chart 30).

Regarding the distribution of cases confirmed by clinical and
suspected cases of Zika virus in Colombia week
epidemiological 01, the highest frequency of confirmed cases
clinic is observed in the Caribbean region with 5449 cases
distributed in ten local authorities and 35 municipalities, 1151
suspected cases coming from eight territorial entities
92 municipalities (see Table 29).

Since starting the epidemic phase of the disease week
Epidemiological 01, 560 women have been reported in the state of
pregnancy, from 26 local authorities and 89
municipalities. Of these, 30 pregnant women have results for RT-PCR
Positive notified by the virology laboratory of the INS, 429
pregnant reported 101 confirmed by clinical and pregnant
reported as suspected of the disease. The entity
territorial highest proportion of reported cases is the
Norte de Santander with 268 pregnant women
corresponding to 47.9% (see Table 35).


READ MORE

[Gert van der Hoek]

| Thu Jan 21, 2016

Zika virus may infect up to 700,000 people in Colombia - government

BOGOTA

The mosquito-borne Zika virus has already infected more than 13,500 people in Colombia and could hit as many as 700,000, the health minister said on Wednesday.

According to Pan-American Health Organization figures, the country is second only to Brazil in infection rates, health minister Alejandro Gaviria told journalists.

"We expect an expansion similar to what we had with the chikungunya virus last year, to finish with between 600,000 to 700,000 cases," Gaviria said.

Some 560 pregnant women are among those infected, the minister said, though so far no cases of newborns suffering from microcephaly, a congenital defect caused by zika, have been registered in the country.

The government is advising Colombian women to delay becoming pregnant for six to eight months in a bid to avoid potential infection.

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

THE INTERVIEW OF CECILIA OROZCO , 23 JAN 2016 - 9:19 PM

"The critical year of 2016 will Zika"

Alejandro Gaviria, Health Minister accurate information about the virus transmitted by a mosquito of African origin: the first is the endemic epidemic then. Slight in many cases, the zika may, however, cause microcephaly in infants and paralytic adult Guillain-Barr?.

By: Cecilia Orozco Tascon

There have been many jokes in radio programs and digital networks for the message of the Ministry of Health in which couples are asked to postpone for a few months their decision to have children to avoid pregnancy in mothers affected by the zika. Do you have imagined that this could be one of the reactions that could occur in the population or took them by surprise?

We knew it was a complicated issue and anticipated some controversy. We also knew that other countries had decided to do the same campaign. We discussed the issue with doctors, public health specialists and epidemiologists. Almost everyone agreed. One objective of the message was to communicate the risk involved have the disease properly. That goal was achieved because people spent the joke to genuine concern and know that this is serious. So serious that, following our example, El Salvador and Honduras also decided to recommend postponement of pregnancies. Brazilian authorities, for their part, acknowledge that they should have done before.

I confess I do not understand why some commentators seemed funny theme being so dramatic, since it warns that the baby of a mother infected may suffer microcephaly. Maybe the message was not as clear as you thought?

No. Mildly or wrongly, some understood our message as a call to abstinence, when they need not have made that connection. Adults should know the difference between a subject and another.

The truth is that some interpreted that you were asking to suspend sex couples, while others claimed that the zika, besides the mosquito, is also transmitted through sexual transmission. True or false?

There is no evidence that it is a sexually transmitted disease. That is another myth among many others. We said that couples should consider deferring pregnancy, not sex. It is not an invitation to chastity. It is a call to use family planning methods to a serious situation and not fully preventable. We respect the autonomy and freedom of couples and let's take this situation to intensify our compa?as sex education.

With what messages or what?

"Always with condom. Obvious! "It will be our message. It is now more important than ever. ( See the video here )

With findings based on which it was established that the zika contracted by a pregnant woman can cause fetal microcephaly?

The mechanisms are not fully known, although the connection is already established: the zika cause microcephaly. However, it should be noted that not happen in all cases. Again, not all pregnant women who have contracted zika have children with microcephaly. About one thousand fetuses of infected mothers, would suffer. Keep in mind that there is still uncertainty about it.

The connection between the zika terms, pregnancy and microcephaly has led to relate to another topic: abortion. The lawyer who has led the campaign to legalize abortion in Colombia, Monica Roa, said that pregnant women who contract zika have the right to abort. What do you think?

Abortion on our message has been clear: the decision of the mother, as stated by the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court on many occasions. The doctor evaluates the risk to women's health, including their mental health, and she decides. In short, women may choose abortion is at risk if their physical or mental health.

Do not fear the reaction of the prosecutor? You might end up being investigated by Ordonez, as interior minister he is going ...

I have had many debates with the prosecutor that since I lost my fear (laughs) ...

How long after birth must give the baby monitor to see if suffer microcephaly?

About a year. Only then full assurance of the absence of health problems the baby will.

Does the mosquito that transmits zika is the same that produces dengue and chikungunya or different varieties of insects?

It's the same: it is a mosquito that lives inside houses, use clean water to breed and is present in much of the country.

Is dirty and standing water is also the fountainhead of these insects? Not in these places where the bugs breed?

No. That is a widespread but mistaken belief. The malaria mosquito is using dirty water. Conversely, the transmitting dengue, chikungunya zika and reproduced in clean water.

Are insects zika transmitters can only live and reproduce in warm climates and at low heights or may occur in climates of over 20 degrees Celsius while the height of the region is above 2,200 meters, as in Bogot? this season El Nino?

With climate change, mosquito habitat is changing. Earlier we talked about your half was in municipalities below 1,800 meters. Now we refer to municipalities below 2,200. Bogota is not currently present mosquito.

So what geographical areas of Colombia are safe from these diseases in not absolute, since it is understood that there is migration?

Essentially Andean plateaus and slopes, Bogota and Tunja, on one side; Pasto and surroundings, Manizales and eastern Antioquia, among others. Your question brings to mind the statement of Miguel Samper in his study Misery in Bogota, written in the nineteenth century (1867). There, he said Colombia was formed by small islands of health in an ocean of disease.

How is it similar to or different dengue, and chikungunya zika, and what is more serious for whom the contracts?

Dengue is the most dangerous and has the highest mortality. The chikungunya produces the most disabling symptoms, especially strong joint pains. For its part, the zika have milder symptoms and is asymptomatic in one in five people, but can cause serious neurological consequences such as bringing microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome, among others.

Why and how medical certainty has recently spoken of a possible connection between the much more serious than previous zika and evil Guillain-Barre syndrome,?

As with the connection between Zika and microcephaly, in this case there is a strong association suggests a causal link. The figures are still uncertain, but one in every thousand infected zika could develop Guillain-Barre syndrome.

What the analysts are based to establish this partnership?

The figures disclosed recently in Brazil, El Salvador and French Polynesia. In Colombia we observed, in recent years, a substantial increase in reports of Guillain-Barre.

When the Guillain-Barre syndrome is acquired by contagion zika, is the paralysis that occurs is permanent or reversed when passing the effects of mosquito bites?

There is still a lot of knowledge, because this is a new phenomenon for science. Apparently, cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with zika are milder than those associated with other infections. And most of those affected recover fully.

How many confirmed cases of Guillain-Barre microcephaly and transmitted by zika there in Colombia, according to statistics from the ministry in charge?

Twelve suspected cases of Guillain-Barre to who we are following up. As for microcephaly, none have yet proven, but we expect about 400 this year.

What underlying this expectation?

In extrapolating the experience of Brazil.

Why do you talk of preventing the insect bite for six months? Is it a time of accelerated playback or mosquito favorable conditions for him due to the phenomenon of drought in the country?

Preventive measures against mosquito are permanent. In the case of microcephaly, talking about six months because that is the expected evolution of the epidemic. That was the curve that we had, for example, in the case of chikungunya, first grew rapidly and after several months decreased to stabilize at a smaller number of cases.

Is it true that the treatment of the virus, except in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, is simple and limited to acetaminophen and stay a few days at rest?

There is no treatment other than symptom management: hydration, rest and acetaminophen. Our concern, again, lies in the neurological complications.

Why Colombia and Brazil are the countries most affected by the presence of zika, if the other Latin American countries have similar climatic and geographical conditions?

The zika came from the south and is coming to the Caribbean. The impact will be similar in all countries. We do have differences in the report. In Venezuela, for example, no epidemiological silence for many months.

But that should itself be a political decision of the government. As for Colombia, how long will this crisis and became permanent or not to go?

It is here to stay. After the epidemic situation will endemic fewer distributed more or less evenly throughout the year cases. This is the critical year 2016, a leap year.

Can not resist the temptation to ask whether, through its technocratic pragmatism, License believe in bad omens which supposedly allowed leap years ...

Overall I am incredulous, but this time I am very worried and so do the casual allusion.

Finally, Minister: hygiene habits serve to prevent zika and similar?

They are key. Do not leave standing water, tanks and pools brush, cover the containers, collecting useless ... All these activities are essential to prevention. Personal protection is also very important: everyone, including pregnant women, of course, should use repellent and clothing that covers most of the body. 70% of prevention depends on what you do or do not make individuals, families or communities.

In addition to infections and passenger discomfort, will there be deaths zika?

Yes. In this we must be clear: there can be deaths attributable to the Zika virus.

Zika, worry scientists

Virologist Ana Bispo, Brazil, has dedicated his laboratory in Rio de Janeiro to study the zika since last year, when they began to detect cases in their country. Bispo has become an internationally consulted due to insipiencia knowledge about this disease, which threatened half a world authority, and the other half warning their citizens to avoid traveling to regions where they play the mosquito that transmits humans. It was also the first scientist to identify the virus in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women. The next step was tracking them affected mothers and so suspicions linked almost 4,000 infants with apparent brain damage and heads lower than normal size. The zika, whose symptoms often are transient and do not usually have serious consequences, caught the attention of the experts when precisely matches between the virus, microcephaly and, more recently, the disease Guillain-Barre syndrome were found, which produces paralysis. There is a network involving more than 40 laboratories and dozens of specialists in different sciences, from genetics to neuroscience, created exclusively to investigate the organism today.

Latin America on alert

The first mass produced cases identified as Zika virus in Latin America were reported in February 2015 in Brazil, where the health system began to report strange rashes in six states (departments). In less than a year, the Pan American Health Organization confirmed the detection of zika in 20 more countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela (no official data), Panama, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean and Central American states. The count grows and no one doubts that reach across the continent. The zika is an arbovirus of producing invertebrates such as mosquitoes, ticks and mosquitoes animals. It is similar to dengue, the chikungunya, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis called. It was originally identified in Africa, at the end of the first half of the twentieth century, particularly in Uganda, in the forests of Zika, hence its name. Researchers found accidentally in a monkey while conducting a study on the transmission of yellow fever. Almost 60 years later there were findings of zika in Polynesia, Pacific Ocean, in 2013. 10 000 cases reported, 70 were serious: the patients developed neurological complications such as we now fear the Latin Americans.

http://www.elespectador.com/entrevista-de-cecilia-orozco/el-ano-critico-del-zika-sera-2016-articulo-612343

[Gert van der Hoek]

COLOMBIA - WEEKLY EPIDEMIOLOGICAL BULLETIN

Epidemiological week number 02 2016
januari , 2016

- Some snips -

From confirmation of Zika virus circulation (ZIKAV)
at home and the beginning of the epidemic phase (weeks
epidemiological 40, 2015) until the epidemiological week 02
2016, have reported a total 798 confirmed cases by vectors
laboratory in 28 of the 36 local authorities, 13
010 clinically confirmed cases from 26 to 36
local authorities and 2 611 suspected cases from
32 of the 36 local authorities. To date, it has reported a
A total of 16 419 cases of illness throughout the Zika virus
National territory. Weekly number of cases reported
It fits due to the late notification of the event, and settings
purification by data quality

The local authorities with the largest number of cases by
origin were Norte de Santander, Cundinamarca,
Barranquilla, Huila and Tolima with 57.5% of the cases (see Table
37).

It has been confirmed virologic circulation in 175 municipalities
country, of whom 82 (46.8%) correspond to the
Midwest and 32 (18.2%) corresponded to the Caribbean region.
Antioquia is the territorial entity with the largest number of
Municipalities with laboratory-confirmed cases (22 municipalities)
(See map 7).

In 2016, in EW 02 have reported a
total of 4388 cases of which 3359 cases are
confirmed by clinical cases, confirmed seven cases
1022 laboratory suspected cases.

The curve shows an increased reporting of cases from
epidemiological week 40 of 2015, the highest income
cases to the surveillance system was presented at the week
epidemiological 01 2016 (2298 cases). Average
notification of the last five weeks was 1749
Cases / week (see Chart 42)

The highest frequency of clinical cases observed confirmed
in the Caribbean region with 6148 cases, 268 confirmed cases
laboratory and 1422 suspected cases (see Table 38).


So far in 2016, to epidemiological week 02 2016
698 pregnant women were reported of which 566 correspond to
confirmed by clinical, six cases laboratory confirmed cases and 126 suspected cases. Below
relate the country's municipalities that have reported women
pregnant at the surveillance system as
cases of Zika virus disease (see Table 46).

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

Almost 900 pregnant women are infected with zika in Colombia

EFE January 26, 2016 20:19

Some 890 pregnant Colombian are infected with the virus Zika , which can cause microcephaly in newborns and Guillain Barre and the country and affects a total of 16,419 people, reported the National Institute of Health (NIH).

According to the latest bulletin epidemiological until the second week of January a total of 890 pregnant women have tested positive for Zika, with 50 of them confirmed by the virology laboratory of the INS and the remaining notified by clinic. Another 200 pregnant women have been "notified suspicion of the disease , "which is more prevalent in the tropics. In fact, the department where most cases occur is North Santander , bordering Venezuela, where 468 pregnant women are infected (42.9% of all pregnant with zika). The INS said that 92.8% of pregnant women carry the virus residing in urban areas, and 2.4% belong to indigenous communities. With regard to the overall expansion of zika , the newsletter said "to date has reported a total 16,419 cases of disease" throughout the country, with the departments of Norte de Santander, Cundinamarca (center), Atlantic (north), Huila (south) and Tolima (center) the most affected, therefore accumulate 57.5% of confirmations. The Colombian government estimates that 500 babies may be born with microcephaly in the country by Zika virus and a similar number of people may experience Guillain Barre syndrome, according to the president said Monday Juan Manuel Santos . "The estimates are that we in Colombia zika 600,000 cases in the course of this epidemic . Of those 600,000 cases, he estimated that the consequences will be 500 cases of newborns with microcephaly and 500 cases of people with Guillain Barre "he said. To prevent this situation, the Ministry of Health suggested a resolution to couples " not pregnant "during the expansion phase of zika. The virus Zika , transmitted by a mosquito of the genus Aedes, the same one that causes dengue and chikungunya, can cause fever, red eyes without discharge without itching, rash with points white or red and often less muscle and joint pain.

http://www.elcomercio.com/tendencias/mujeres-embarazadas-zika-colombia-salud.html