Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Colombia asks prevent pregnancy by Zika virus until July 2016
Posted on Jan 20, 2016 8:04 a.m. |
(Colombia, January 20th. AFP) .- The government of Colombia asked the couples living in the country to avoid pregnancy in the months before the expansion of the Zika virus , linked to cases of babies born with microcephaly.
"In consideration of the phase in which the epidemic and the risk involved is, to all inhabitants of the country couples do not get pregnant during this phase, which can go up to July 2016 recommended," the ministry Health in a statement. In his last circular, dated January 7, the health authority also recommended that all pregnant women living in an area above 2,200 meters above sea level refrain from traveling "at least until July 2016 " to places of lower altitude, where the chances of infection are high. "It is considered that the country is in an expansionary phase of the Zika virus infection (ZIKV); ie a growing epidemic, "said the text.
The Zika virus is transmitted by the bite of female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the same dengue and Chikungunya. The infection causes fever, rash and joint pain. According to a National Institute of Health (NIH) reported over the weekend, Colombia has at least 11,000 confirmed cases of Zika virus and nearly 2,000 suspects to be, most of them in the tourist Caribbean region. Of these, 459 are affected pregnant and 101 are under suspicion.
Combat the vector mosquito is a priority of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), told AFP Tuesday an expert of that entity, issued in late 2015, a epidemiological alert to the appearance of congenital malformations in newborns of pregnant women with zika. On Friday, the United States warned pregnant women to avoid traveling to 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Posted on Jan 20, 2016 8:04 a.m. |
(Colombia, January 20th. AFP) .- The government of Colombia asked the couples living in the country to avoid pregnancy in the months before the expansion of the Zika virus , linked to cases of babies born with microcephaly.
"In consideration of the phase in which the epidemic and the risk involved is, to all inhabitants of the country couples do not get pregnant during this phase, which can go up to July 2016 recommended," the ministry Health in a statement. In his last circular, dated January 7, the health authority also recommended that all pregnant women living in an area above 2,200 meters above sea level refrain from traveling "at least until July 2016 " to places of lower altitude, where the chances of infection are high. "It is considered that the country is in an expansionary phase of the Zika virus infection (ZIKV); ie a growing epidemic, "said the text.
The Zika virus is transmitted by the bite of female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the same dengue and Chikungunya. The infection causes fever, rash and joint pain. According to a National Institute of Health (NIH) reported over the weekend, Colombia has at least 11,000 confirmed cases of Zika virus and nearly 2,000 suspects to be, most of them in the tourist Caribbean region. Of these, 459 are affected pregnant and 101 are under suspicion.
Combat the vector mosquito is a priority of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), told AFP Tuesday an expert of that entity, issued in late 2015, a epidemiological alert to the appearance of congenital malformations in newborns of pregnant women with zika. On Friday, the United States warned pregnant women to avoid traveling to 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.