Zika in Cozumel

[scubadada]

Zika is a very serious threat to pregnant women and women who may want to become pregnant. Let's be responsible and acknowledge that, and not spread inaccurate information.

 

[deepsea21]

Zika is a very serious threat to pregnant women and women who may want to become pregnant. Let's be responsible and acknowledge that, and not spread inaccurate information.

No, Zika is a very serious "potential" threat to pregnant women and women who may want to become pregnant. Let's recognize that and give proven scientific studies time to determine whether or not Zika alone truly presents a threat. I don't think anyone here is spreading innacurate information here and most have seen their share of fear mongering in the past with this and that.

Anyone remember when Ebola was supposed to spread out of control in Africa and travel around the globe? Fear mongers wanted to deny U.S. doctors who volunteered to go overseas to help those infected re-entry to the U.S.

 

[cvchief]

@mstevens Paging Doctor Stevens, Paging Doctor Stevens....

 

[DjDiverDan]

Zika is a very serious threat to pregnant women and women who may want to become pregnant. Let's be responsible and acknowledge that, and not spread inaccurate information.

No, Zika is a POTENTIAL threat. As I said in my post, "That's not to say that a pregnant woman shouldn't take precautions; MAYBE the WHO is right. But it hardly supports the case for widespread panic." But the evidence to date does NOT support the claim that "Zika is a very serious threat to pregnant women and women who may want to become pregnant." Two public health organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have studied the evidence, and have both identified Zika as a SUSPECTED cause of birth defects. But NEITHER organization studied other environmental causes, and NEITHER could give any rational explanation why Zika, which has been around for at least 75 years, and very common in tropical areas, did not seem to create an explosion of microcephaly until very recently (2014-15, IIRC), and ONLY in Brazil. Now if I were a pregnant woman, I certainly would avoid any trips to Brazil, and I certainly would take great care to avoid any exposure to mosquitos - frequent applications of very good mosquito repellant, avoiding outside areas like beachfronts, mangrove swamps, or jungle during early mornings and near sunset, when mosquitos are very active, and protective clothing. But those precautions are a good idea in any event, as there are a lot of mosquito-borne illnesses, like Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and others, most of which are more dangerous than Zika. I'm all in favor of the precautionary principle. What I am not in favor of is media driven panic built upon misinformation.

 

[chillyinCanada]

The Race for a Zika Vaccine

This leads me to believe there's strong enough evidence that Zika is a problem for pregnancy.

 

[DjDiverDan]

This leads me to believe there's strong enough evidence that Zika is a problem for pregnancy.

There's no doubt cause for concern with pregnancy. But even that article notes that the evidence is far from conclusive:

“We still don’t understand the factors that contributed to the striking number of congenital birth defects seen during this pandemic,” Eva Harris, a professor at U.C. Berkeley’s School of Public Health who studies dengue, Zika, and other emerging infections, told me. “Possible explanations include the vast number of people infected—a numbers game. There could be other factors, such as the viral strain, the genetics of the host, environmental exposures, or immune-related factors, such as prior dengue infection.”

And with respect to non-pregnant patients, the article reports that many cases are non-symptomatic, and those that are typically resolve within a week or less. Except for the potential for birth defects, cases of which are still largely confined to Brazil, Zika is far less dangerous than Dengue, Malaria, Yellow Fever, and Chikungunya, all of which are also transmitted by mosquitos.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Spoken like a man.

Less dangerous to everyone but the fetus, I guess.

 

[DjDiverDan]

When you say "Spoken like a man", I assume that you are referring to the fact that I used facts, logic, and critical thinking skills. I know how that must piss off some women.

 

[ggunn]

It's kinda funny, but when some of us advocate informed caution, in the opinion of others we are in a blind panic. There is a whole lot of gray in between the black and the white, and absence of proof is not proof of absence.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was hugging a baby all afternoon. The idea that they could have been damaged within the womb due to exposure to a virus that in every other way is mild seemed unthinkable to me. Why would any loving parents be willing to take such a chance, slight though it may be?

That you spoke like a man and in this instance, I'll even concede to your definition. However, I'm not angry with you. I feel sorry for you because you have no empathy. You can't grasp that your "facts, logic and critical thinking" will be of absolutely no comfort to parents who's child is so stricken. Try to look outside the box once in awhile. maybe you'll find your heart.