Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Brazil should address Zika virus as an STD outbreak, researchers say
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Monday 28 March 2016 14.57 EDT Last modified on Monday 28 March 2016 16.03 EDT
For weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned of the potential for men to transmit the Zika virus to their sex partners. But for Brazil, mired in political turmoil, addressing this emerging Zika transmission route remains low on the list of priorities.
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But despite mounting evidence that sexual transmission of Zika is more common than previously believed, the Brazilian government has yet to expand its public health outreach to include emphasizing safer sex as a form of prevention.
On Friday, the CDC issued new guidelines advising men infected with Zika to wait at least six months from the onset of symptoms before having unprotected sex. By contrast, Brazilian health officials have advised women to delay pregnancy through abstinence or use of contraception to avoid Zika-associated birth defects, but they remain silent on using condoms to prevent sexual transmission.
The lack of government response about the potential for sexually transmitted Zika is in part a symptom of the paralysis caused by Brazil?s current political crisis, according to Sonia Corr?a, who co-chairs the Sexuality Policy Watch at the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association in Rio de Janeiro.
More...
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/28/zika-virus-brazil-std-who-cdc-aids-hiv
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Monday 28 March 2016 14.57 EDT Last modified on Monday 28 March 2016 16.03 EDT
For weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned of the potential for men to transmit the Zika virus to their sex partners. But for Brazil, mired in political turmoil, addressing this emerging Zika transmission route remains low on the list of priorities.
...
But despite mounting evidence that sexual transmission of Zika is more common than previously believed, the Brazilian government has yet to expand its public health outreach to include emphasizing safer sex as a form of prevention.
On Friday, the CDC issued new guidelines advising men infected with Zika to wait at least six months from the onset of symptoms before having unprotected sex. By contrast, Brazilian health officials have advised women to delay pregnancy through abstinence or use of contraception to avoid Zika-associated birth defects, but they remain silent on using condoms to prevent sexual transmission.
The lack of government response about the potential for sexually transmitted Zika is in part a symptom of the paralysis caused by Brazil?s current political crisis, according to Sonia Corr?a, who co-chairs the Sexuality Policy Watch at the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association in Rio de Janeiro.
More...
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/28/zika-virus-brazil-std-who-cdc-aids-hiv