zika virus is a virus that is spread to humans through the bite of the infected mosquito aedes aegypti mosquitowhich is also the primary vector that transmits dengue chikungunya and yellowfever.this mosquito is found throughout different regions in the world, throughthe americas, in africa, in asia and also the pacific islands. in the beginning, when we first knew about this diseasein 1940s throughout 2007, it's very mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis, which is thereddening of the eyes. you could have muscle and joint pain. so basically selflimiting. now with this virus, what we're
seeing is that there's a questionwhether there are severe complications to zika virus and that caninclude a neurological type of complications like guillain-barrã©syndrome which is the weakening of muscles. also there is a question whetherthere is any association with the zika virus and congenital malformationslike microcephaly. right now in brazil they are reporting increases of microcephaly cases which is the small heads of newborn babies and so we'requestioning whether there's any relationship between zika andmicrocephaly. there's no specific treatment forzika virus disease and there is no
vaccine. however we have seen that mostof the cases are mild or some of them don't even show any symptoms. however if youdo have symptoms, you can take supportive therapy medicines to cure yourheadache or your muscle or joint pain. all travelers should follow the guidelines from their respective owncountries. as with all vector-borne diseases, we do advise all travelers, allpeople living in areas of sub-tropical and tropical areas to wear protectiveclothing. for pregnant women, we advise pregnant women to seek consultation withtheir physician.
the best way to prevent yourselffrom getting bit by a mosquito is to use either mosquito repellent orprotective clothing during the peak hours of when the mosquitoes will bite,which is usually early in the morning and late in the afternoon. also forchildren or elderly, or people that may be resting during the day, they canuse bed nets to also create another barrier between themselves and themosquito.
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