Zika virus and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016 (WHO statement, 12 May 2016)

[Pathfinder]

Zika virus and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016

WHO statement
12 May 2016

WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recognize that athletes and visitors are seeking more information on the risks of Zika and ways to prevent infection while attending the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016 (5 August to 18 September 2016).

Brazil is one of the 58 countries and territories which to-date report continuing transmission of Zika virus by mosquitoes. While mosquitoes are the primary vectors, a person infected with Zika virus can also transmit the virus to another person through unprotected sex. Zika virus disease usually causes mild symptoms(1), and most people will not develop any symptoms. However, there is scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly (children being born with unusually small heads) and other brain malformations and disorders in babies born to women who were infected with Zika virus during pregnancy, and Guillain-Barr? syndrome (a rare but serious neurological disorder that could lead to paralysis and death).

Athletes and visitors to Rio de Janeiro, and other areas where Zika virus is circulating, are being encouraged to:

• follow the travel advice(2) provided by WHO and their countries’ health authorities, and consult a health worker before travelling;
• whenever possible, during the day, protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents and by wearing clothing – preferably light-coloured – that covers as much of the body as possible;
• practice safer sex (e.g. use condoms correctly and consistently) or abstain from sex during their stay and for at least 4 weeks after their return, particularly if they have had or are experiencing symptoms of Zika virus;
• choose air-conditioned accommodation (windows and doors are usually kept closed to prevent the cool air from escaping, and mosquitoes cannot enter the rooms);
• avoid visiting impoverished and over-crowded areas in cities and towns with no piped water and poor sanitation (ideal breeding grounds of mosquitoes) where the risk of being bitten is higher.

Pregnant women continue to be advised not to travel to areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission. This includes Rio de Janeiro. Pregnant women’s sex partners returning from areas with circulating virus continue to be counselled to practice safer sex or abstain throughout the pregnancy(3). The Games will take place during Brazil’s wintertime, when there are fewer active mosquitoes and the risk of being bitten is lower.

WHO/PAHO is providing public health advice to the Government of Brazil and, under a Memorandum of Understanding, the International Olympic Committee and, by extension, the Rio 2016 Local Organizing Committee, on ways to further mitigate the risk of athletes and visitors contracting Zika virus during the Games. An important focus of WHO advice revolves around measures to reduce populations of Aedesmosquitoes which transmit chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever in addition to Zika virus.

WHO/PAHO will continue to monitor the Zika virus transmission and risks in Brazil and in other affected areas to provide updates on how Zika virus outbreaks, risks and prevention interventions develop between now and August and beyond.

Media contacts:
Daniel Epstein
Department of Communications
PAHO/WHO
Office: +1 202 974 3579
Mobile: +1 301 219 2105
epsteind@paho.org
Nyka Alexander
Communication Officer
World Health Organization
Office: +41 22 791 5029
Mobile: +41 79 634 0295
alexandern@who.int
Christian Lindmeier
Communications officer
World Health Organization
Office: +41 22 791 1948
Mobile: +41 79 500 6552
lindmeierch@who.int


______________________
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/...a-olympics/en/

 

[sharon sanders]

Pregnant women continue to be advised not to travel to areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission. This includes Rio de Janeiro.

But the US CDC does recommend that pregnant women DO NOT attend the Olympics:

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...do-not-go-to-the-olympics-updated-may-05-2016

 

[Pathfinder]

W.H.O.?s Zika Guidelines Don?t Include Delaying Olympics

By PAM BELLUCKMAY 12, 2016
...
The health organization?s guidance follows most of the current advice from public health authorities about Zika, although its recommendations for protecting against sexual transmission of the virus differ slightly from those of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The W.H.O. statement said that travelers should use condoms or abstain from sex during their stay and for at least four weeks after returning from a region within the epidemic zone; the C.D.C. suggests abstaining for eight weeks after returning.
...
Last week, concern over Zika led Major League Baseball and the players? union to announce that two games between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Miami Marlins would be moved to Florida instead of taking place in Puerto Rico, which has also been hit by the epidemic.

But the content and tone of the World Health Organization?s guidance for athletes and travelers indicated that the health authority was not advocating the cancellation, postponement or relocation of the Olympics, as a few prominent medical ethicists have urged.
...
In an interview on Thursday, Dr. Marcos Espinal, who directs the Zika response of the Pan American Health Organization, an arm of the W.H.O., strongly rejected the idea of postponing or relocating the events.
...
The difference between the W.H.O. and the C.D.C. guidance on sexual transmission of Zika may reflect how little is known about the probability and conditions under which such transmission is possible. There have been a few cases of documented or suspected sexual transmission, and among the unanswered questions are how long the virus persists in semen, whether women can transmit the virus to sexual partners, and whether an infected person who never shows symptoms can transmit the virus sexually.
...
Two other recommendations in the World Health Organization guidelines could have economic consequences for some businesses and communities in Brazil. The guidelines suggest that Olympic visitors stay in air-conditioned accommodations and ?avoid visiting impoverished and overcrowded areas in cities and towns with no piped water and poor sanitation (ideal breeding grounds of mosquitoes) where the risk of being bitten is higher.?

Asked about the possibility that the Zika epidemic may funnel Olympic spending away from poorer communities, Dr. Espinal said: ?I don?t think it?s a matter of poor neighborhoods versus rich neighborhoods. I think it?s a matter of people taking precautions.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/health/zika-brazil-olympics-who-guidelines.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Rio Olympics Shouldn't Be Moved, WHO Says


May 17, 2016, at 8:48 a.m.
By JAMEY KEATEN and MARIA CHENG, Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) ? The World Health Organization's chief says the agency is increasingly concerned about the Zika virus, even though it does not recommend canceling or postponing the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics in hard-hit Brazil.

"The more we learn about Zika, the more worried we get about it," Dr. Margaret Chan said in a briefing Tuesday in Geneva, saying she herself would be going to the Rio Games.
...
She reiterated the U.N. health agency's advice that pregnant women should not travel to Brazil, which has by far the biggest number of Zika cases.

She said the agency was recommending that both Olympic athletes and travelers to Rio take measures to prevent being bitten by the mosquitoes that spread Zika. Still, she didn't see a reason why the games ? which are expected to draw about 500,000 people to Brazil ? should be moved.

"You don't want to bring a standstill to the world's movement of people," Chan said. "This is all about risk assessment and risk management."

Asked if she agreed with WHO's Zika response chief Bruce Aylward, who declared earlier this year that Rio will host a "fantastic" Olympic games, Chan said it will be.

"I'm going," she said.
...
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...singly-alarming-but-rio-olympics-should-be-ok