Medicine Cabinet — Reiner W. Gloor
THERE HAS been a lot of talk about the Zika virus and its outbreak in Latin America lately, with many news items causing concern and worry even here in the Philippines. Our own Department of Health (DoH) has actually spoken and just very recently warned the public against the ongoing spread of this virus.
The Zika virus was accidentally discovered in 1947 in Uganda. It then appeared in Micronesia in 2007, and then in 2013-2014 in French Polynesia where now studies are underway to better understand how the virus affect fetuses. It has now spread to the Americas. The virus seems mainly to be found in the tropical belt.
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed high concern and recently wrapped up high level meetings to establish if there is a link to birth defects noticed in Brazil. An unusal number of babies with microcephaly — abnormally small brain and skull for their age — have been seen and some link this to the Zika Virus. Guillame-Barre Syndrome, a serious neurological condition, has also been reported in areas where the virus has been present. So far no scientific link has been established but these countries have been identified as El Salvador, Brazil, and French Polynesia.
The Health Regulations Emergency Committee has determined that the Zika virus outbreak constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern.” According to the WHO, this large area affected by the virus, the lack of vaccines and diagnostic tests, and lack of population immunity have all contributed to the need for the declaration.
DoH Spokesman Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy said that the threat of the Zika virus is present in the Philippines, as it is in any other country. The El Niño phenomenon might even increase our chances of suffering from this worrisome outbreak. So he encourages all Filipinos to be on guard and pro-active about keeping their surroundings clean, especially those areas prone to mosquito breeding.
The WHO also discussed the scaling up and strengthening of surveillance systems in affected countries. It will also address critical gaps in scientific knowledge about the virus, the development of vaccines, and improving diagnostic tests.
In the meantime, let’s heed the warnings of the DoH and take extra precautions in keeping our surroundings clean and mosquito-free. Using the same warnings made for dengue, the DoH stresses the need to especially keep water containers free of stagnant water. It also encourages the use of insect repellent and the wearing of protective clothing.
Special protection should be considered when required to travel to countries strongly affected by the Zika virus, and pregnant women should consider postponing any trip to these areas. At the moment it is not quite clear as to whether the disease can be sexually transferred. The syptoms are like a mild flu and many would not even feel that they got affected.
Zika fever is not a deadly disease. We could only find one reported case in the Philippines to date, a 12-year-old boy who got infected in 2012 and who recovered fairly well.
While the Zika virus is actually very mild, it may be responsible for severe birth defects if women are infected when pregnant. There have been reports of babies born with microcephaly. In adults, there have been cases where sufferers have had neurologic conditions. The links between these results and the virus have not yet been proven with certainty. Not all women who get sick with Zika end up with babies who have microcephaly, and the vast majority of adults who get well from Zika do so without neurologic conditions.
The Zika virus is transmitted through the daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes such as the A. aegypti. Common symptoms of infection include mild headaches, maculopapular rash, fever, malaise, conjunctivities, and joint pains — very similar to the flu or even dengue. However, as of today, there is no known vaccine or preventive drugs available exclusively for Zika virus.
Log on to www.phap.org.ph and www.phapcares.org.ph. E-mail the author at reiner.gloor@gmail.com.
