Mosquito Borne Illness

[Storker]

let's say that in the fullness of time, Zika is somehow proven to have no causative effect regarding microcephaly. If there's a big uptick in microcephaly in Brazil from some as-yet unknown cause, will pregnant women insist on going there, instead of waiting till they're not pregnant?

Bingo.

It might be the Aedes mosquito, and it might not. It might be the zika virus, and it might not. So far, the available data indicates it might well be that the Aedes mosquito is spreading the zika virus and that the zika virus leads to microcephaly in infants. Based on available data, would I like my possibly pregnant partner to visit areas where microcephaly is a significant risk? Heck, no! If I were a potentially pregnant woman, would I visit areas where that's a significant risk? Heck, no!!!

IMO the risk thoroughly outweighs any benefits of traveling to that part of the world if it isn't necessary.

 

[DandyDon]

They are claiming this Dallas case was acquired sexually...
First US case of Zika virus in Dallas County, health officials

 

[deepsea21]

Good Lord! How many claimed "pandemics" have you seen come and go? They all pass like a fart in the wind as the media moves on when they realize "there's nothing to see here". Why do the masses listen to this BS and react with such crazy behavior? It wasn't that long ago the masses were screaming not to let doctors who went to East Africa to provide care to those in need back into their countries! What the F was that about? All who buy into this Zinka scare are being manipulated by a bunch of fear mongers and they buy into it at their own cost having abandoned $1000's of dollars of pre-paid travel that can't be refunded. Personally, I am looking forward to grabbing $100 hotel rooms in Coz for $25 in 2016 as I did post 9/11 when everyone was in hiding buying duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal their windows in fear of a bio attack! Ya want to live or ya want to live in fear? Your choice. This entire Zika witch hunt is simple unbelievable!

 

[Ron Lee]

The recent WHO announcement noted that there is not a scientifically proven link between the Zika virus and microcephaly. The CDC has little credibility in my opinion after their warnings during the swine flu event.

Has Zika been transmitted on Cozumel by a mosquito?

How about anywhere in Q. Roo?

 

[WetRocks]

This is all a bunch of hooey! Columbia had 2,100 pregnant women infected without a single case of microcephaly!

Timing is important to consider. Colombia had their first cases of Zika reported only in October...the next 6 months will be telling.

 

[ggunn]

Coastal residents in Louisiana left their homes a couple of times in the early 50's due to hurricane warnings which turned out to be false alarms when the storms turned and went somewhere else. In June of 1957 another warning was issued, and it was widely ignored. "This is a bunch of hooey."

Then Hurricane Audrey roared ashore and killed thousands.

Just because the Swine Flu turned out to be a fizzle, that doesn't mean we shouldn't take health warnings seriously. Zika may turn out to be nothing. I hope it does. But if it turns out to be a real problem and the CDC hadn't said anything because they were waiting for the data to prove how bad it is, then the public would be clamoring for their collective head on a platter because they were not warned.

Don't panic, but be prudent.

 

[Storker]

Don't panic, but be prudent.

^^^This.

Nothing is perfect. If I choose prudence, I will have some false positives. If I choose to wait for a final, unequivocal confirmation of a real risk, I will have some false negatives. I prefer being prudent, but I'll be darned if I'll panic. If I'm in doubt whether or not I've broken my leg, I'll rather visit the ER to get an X-ray than wait it out to see what happens. If I suspect I might be bent, I'll rather breathe some oxygen than wait until I'm half paralyzed and all my joints are hurting like heck.

YMMV, of course.

 

[PatW]

It's already here in the US, I'm afraid.

It is and it isn't. US citizens travel abroad and contract Zika. They also travel abroad and contract other mosquito borne illnesses like Yellow Fever, Malaria, and Dengue. However, mosquito borne disease transmission is very rare in the USA. A female mosquito has to bite a person with the disease agent in their blood stream. The mosquito, having gotten their blood meal, leaves and develops eggs (only females bite). The mosquito lays its eggs and this usually takes a week from bite to egg laying. It is then ready for another blood meal. It finds a new person. It lands on them, and injects some saliva into them. The saliva carries the disease organism into the human. The saliva serves as a local anesthetic (so the mosquito can get its blood meal and escape) and as an anticoagulant (the mosquito does not want a blood clot forming in its throat).

So the mosquito has to find an infected human. Mosquito borne disease are mighty rare in the USA so it is good luck with that. Then the mosquito has to survive a week. Then it has to find another human. Given that in the USA people avoid mosquito infested areas, have screens on their windows, use mosquito repellant, and so on, mosquitos have a pretty hard time. Endemic mosquito borne transmission in the USA ended about 65 years ago. The reason transmission stopped is that it was too hard for mosquitos to find infected people to bite and then get to bite uninfected people. With a low chance of transmission, the chain of contagion was broken. However, there was a time when malaria existed in Ohio. Various cities had yellow fever outbreaks. But most of that was in the 19th century.

Now I understand that Zika can also be transmitted sexually which is really strange. I can think of no other mosquito borne illness that has another mode of transmission.

 

[scubadada]

Would I take my pregnant wife to Brazil where this outbreak of microcephaly is taking place? No. Why? Because no one has any idea what is causing this outbreak in Brazil. Zika infected mosquitos are just one theory of 1000's of possibilities. Columbia (which has the second largest rate of Zika infection) hasn't had a single case of microcephaly out of 2,100 pregnant women known to be infected with Zika.

What would I do? I'd stay away from areas that have children being born with microcephaly! I would not eliminate every area of the world that can support mosquitos! If I were to do that I may as well pack up and move to the arctic circle.

Would I take my pregnant wife to Cozumel where there has not been a case of microcephaly? Absolutely.

Watch what happens here... millions of people are canceling trips all over the globe forfeiting billions of non-refundable dollars spent on vacations... Entire tourist economies around the globe are heading into instant post 9/11 recession again. The cruise ship stocks are already in free fall. A year from now the source of this microcephaly outbreak in Brazil will probably have been attributed to something localized in Brazil having absolutely nothing to do with Zika and mosquitos.

Since you are ignoring the CDC, you are probably ignoring the WHO also WHO Director-General summarizes the outcome of the Emergency Committee regarding clusters of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome

 

[deepsea21]

Since you are ignoring the CDC, you are probably ignoring the WHO also WHO Director-General summarizes the outcome of the Emergency Committee regarding clusters of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome

Absolutely! The W.H.O.? The World Health Organization? The health arm of that UN octpus with 100's of tentacles all trying to justify their pay and existance? I disregard all of their latest fear mongering. Has the W.H.O. done anything to combat Malaria or any disease indentified in the last 2 centuries that kills MILLIONS of people every year globally? No. The W.H.O. is a joke. Go to the WHO website and see what is plastered all over the place... Zika. To even find evidence of the last ebola fear mongering you need to dig deep and far in that website . Malaria and all those other diseases they have done absolutely nothing to combat, find a vaccine for, or even care to address of late that kills million every year? I guess all the those were conviently forgotten about a long, long time ago though they may still report some statistics from time to time. Nuf said.