How do you stop freaking out about Zika? Learn more about the disease.
What is Zika?
Zika is a virus, with symptoms including fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. It’s a tricky one—about 80 percent of infected people never have any symptoms. The symptoms for the other 20 percent—adults and children alike—tend to subside within a week.
Why is everyone freaking out?
What’s gotten everyone freaked out is the potential link between Zika virus and microcephaly, a devastating birth defect in which babies are born with small heads and brains. There’s also some indication that Zika is associated with Guillain Barre Syndrome, which can result in paralysis.
But it’s critical to note that neither one of these links are proven. And the data about exactly how many cases of these defects have been observed is really sketchy. There are estimates ranging from 300 to 4,000 babies with microcephaly in Brazil, and it will take a long time for those numbers to be reconciled.
Should I worry?
Don’t panic. For people in Florida, and in the U.S. in general, you are at very low risk of contracting the disease here.
All of the cases identified in the U.S. so far (expect for one sexually transmitted case in Dallas) have been in people who contracted the disease in other countries. In Florida, there have been 16 cases identified, all in people who contracted the virus while traveling in affected areas.
Local mosquitoes don’t have the Zika virus in them. The fear is that if a person is infected outside the country and comes back and is bitten inside the country, that mosquito could bite someone else. But this hasn’t happened. And since most people sick with Zika are staying inside (they’re sick, after all), it’s unlikely to happen on a large scale.
So why did the governor declare a state of emergency?
The state of emergency is to help local governments buy more insecticide.
The term ‘state of emergency’ is alarming. But with Zika in Florida, the state of emergency is really just a tool to help local governments buy stuff to prepare. The declaration allows local governments to purchase supplies and mosquito-killing chemicals without having to get higher levels of approvals. That’s pretty much it.
What if I’m pregnant?
If you’re pregnant, wear mosquito repellant. Even this tip is overkill since Florida mosquitoes don’t have the Zika virus. But if you’re pregnant and you’re really concerned about getting bit by mosquitoes (and there are plenty of other reasons besides Zika to want to avoid mosquitoes), then wear insect repellant, and make sure it’s the real stuff. Wear the tough kinds, the ones with DEET.
Even if you’re a natural-products-only person, the risk to your body from small exposure to DEET is much smaller than the risk to your baby of Zika virus. But for now, even wearing insect repellant in non-affected areas (like Florida) is for the ultra cautious.
I’m taking a cruise to the Caribbean. Do I have to worry about Zika?
Check your cruise itinerary.
The list of counties with active Zika mosquitoes is growing, and many include popular travel destinations, such as Jamaica, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.
If you’re pregnant or want to become pregnant in the next month or so, you should probably think about rescheduling your vacation. If you’re not pregnant and plan to travel to one of these countries, wear insect repellant with DEET while you’re there and consult the Centers for Disease Control’s travel guide here: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/zika-virus-caribbean.
