State-wide alert in Kerala due to Zika virus

Health authorities in Kerala have declared a state of alert in all districts after identifying 14 cases of Zika virus.

Context

Health authorities in Kerala have declared a state of alert in all districts after identifying 14 cases of Zika virus.

What is Zika?

• Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus.
• The viral infection is transmitted mostly by the bite of infected Aedes species mosquitoes ( aegypti and A. albopictus).
• These mosquitoes bite during the day and night.
• These are the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.
• Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects.
• Additionally, it can be transmitted sexually and blood transfusion (very likely but not confirmed).

History

• Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 and is named after the Zika Forest in Uganda.
• In 1952, the first human cases of Zika were detected.
• Since then, outbreaks of Zika have been reported in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
• In 2015, a major outbreak in Brazil led to the revelation that Zika can be associated with microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with small and underdeveloped brains.
• WHO declared the Zika infection with clusters of microcephaly and other neurological disorders as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Zika symptoms

• Many people infected with Zika virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms. The most common symptoms of Zika are
• Fever
• Rash
• Headache
• Joint pain
• Red eyes
• Muscle pain
• Symptoms can last for several days to a week.
• People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika.
• Once a person has been infected with Zika, they are likely to be protected from future infections.

Risky for some people

• Zika infection during pregnancy can cause a birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe brain defects.
• It is also linked to other problems, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, and other birth defects.
• There have also been increased reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome, an uncommon sickness of the nervous system, in areas affected by Zika.
  
  

Courtesy: ScienceDirect.com

Treatment

• There is no specific medicine or vaccine for Zika virus.
• But the symptoms are managed which includes rest, consumption of plenty of fluids, common pain and fever medicines, etc.