The Zika virus cases in Central and South America are certainly getting attention in the U.S. Health officials at the University of Kentucky are offering some advice.
Dr. Derek Forster, UK’s medical director in Infection Prevention and Control, says there are no known Zika cases in Kentucky. Still, pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant are advised not to travel to countries where the mosquito borne virus is causing birth defects.
Forster says officials with the Centers for Disease Control are doubtful that being bitten now by infected mosquitos will cause problems with pregnancies later. “Transmission to the fetus is unlikely to ever occur after they resolve their infection,” said Forster. “It’s still to some degree an unanswered question as far as when the risk becomes zero. How far out after infection does that risk actually become zero?"
Sean McTigue, UK Pediatrics Infection and Control Director, says typically the virus stays in the bloodstream for about a week. He says Kentuckians should not be concerned about becoming infected. “It’s important to say those would likely be imported cases, where they would be travelers who became infected in one of the areas where Zika virus is being transmitted and then came back either with their symptoms, or developed them after coming here," McTigue explained. “It’s not really a concern right now that people are going to be infected in Kentucky.”
There is currently no vaccine or medication for the Zika virus. Although discovered in 1947, it wasn’t until last year that researches discovered the virus caused birth defects. Forster says the World Health Organization has now labeled it an international public health emergency.
