Zika Transmittal Confirmed in Florida

LakeR2014 · July 2016

https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/health/florida-health-officials-confirm-local-zika-transmission/index.html

We knew it was inevitable but still sucks to see that the Zika virus has come to the US and a confirmation of transmittal has been seen in Florida.

Anyone know of any measures that have been or can be taken to help eradicate it? How is progress on vaccines?

steminist · July 2016

I think right now the only measures against Zika are targeted at the mosquito itself. DEET, light-colored pants/long sleeves, making sure you have no standing water (~2 tsp is enough!) around your house, etc. Like the article mentioned, it's the same pest as Dengue and chikungunya, and those are rare in the US because we usually have a lower mosquito population and better pest control than other affected countries. Miami residents, if you needed another excuse to stay inside in the AC, this is it!

Vaccine progress, from what I remember, has been moving forward, but that's almost always a very slow process.

hey_clever_girl · July 2016

Bah. I am glad we are all almost through our pregnancies, though I do know it's been said no stage of pregnancy is "immune" to the negative effects Zika can have. I would think that for the most part, though, a third trimester infection would be preferable to a first trimester.

Guess my butt's staying inside even more than I already have been. I live in Tennessee, which is still pretty far from Florida, but now that there are locally-acquired continental U.S. cases, I feel less flippant about it than I did before.

princesslockness · July 2016

******Lurker from D'16******
The CDC website that was updated on the 27th says that there are no mosquito transmitted cases with in the US.

Thscary · July 2016

@Kate08Young CNN was reporting just as of today that cases were transmitted by mosquitos in Florida. CDC will probably update soon unless the media report is false

rock1cherry · July 2016

Saw this on the news around 5pm and I'm in Western NY. In good news, it sounds like they're taking a lot of precautions with checking properties to get rid of possible breeding grounds. Hopefully if they are proactive now, it will help slow/stop the spread.

Bibliobebe · July 2016

We're actually on vacation out here in FL right now, and when I first heard about it I was a little upset but after watching some of the news reports it appears that there ARE 4 confirmed cases but they have NOT confirmed that the virus was transmitted from mosquitos specifically. They believe that it's mosquito transmission, but have yet to find a Zika positive mosquito in the infection zone, which is currently limited to a single zipcode in Miami.

It's hot as Hades here and there's water everywhere so even with bug spray I've already been bitten around my ankles several times. I'll be tested for Zika when I arrive back home, just in case, but I'm not worrying about it now because it hasn't been 100% confirmed that the cases ARE local mosquito related and the area is quite small.

Also, there have been some news articles that state that defects are possible in infants due to Zika even AFTER birth, yet this medical study published in the Medical Journal of New England reports that out of the over 1800 reported cases of Zika virus in pregnant women in Columbia over 90% of those women were apparently infected during the 3rd trimester and within that group, as per the study, "no infants with apparent abnormalities, including microcephaly, have been identified."

I don't think that this is something that we should just shrug off or take lightly. We should remain vigilant and informed, but currently the risk to any mothers in the USA is so small that I don't think it's necessary for anyone to suffer anxiety over it. Especially if you live far outside of the "infected" zones, like Miami.

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