Thursday, June 23, 2016

CDC Zika information Zika has not yet been transmitted by mosquitoes in the continental U.S. As of...

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CDC Zika information

Zika has not yet been transmitted by mosquitoes in the continental U.S.

As of June 23 the U.S. had admitted at least 819 travelers infected with Zika into the continental U.S.

198 New York, 162 in Florida, 52 in California, 42 in Texas

One case of Zika in U.S. was “lab-acquired.”

CDC says serious illness from Zika virus is uncommon.

Many of them in the states that have the species of mosquito that can transmit the virus, which is how CDC says Zika will soon become endemic to the U.S.

Zika virus has been around since the 1940’s.

Zika is considered one of the mildest mosquito-borne viruses.

At least 80% of people who get Zika don’t become sick and have no symptoms.

For 70 years, Zika wasn’t linked to microcephaly birth defects. That only happened after a 2015 rise in microcephaly in Brazil coincident with a Zika outbreak.

Brazil’s Ministry of Health originally thought it had 4,180 cases of Zika-related microcephaly between October and December 2015. However, after scrutiny by experts, it reported that Zika and other infectious diseases were ruled out in a majority of the cases.

An Argentina doctors’ group said Brazil’s rash of microcephaly was noticed shortly after some communities began using the larvicide “pyriproxyfen” in drinking water. “It’s a hypothesis, a probability,” Dr. Medardo Avila Vazquez, a pediatrician in Cordoba, Argentina and main author of the report told NPR. “And for us, it’s more likely that it’s the chemical larvicide and not Zika.” (“Pyriproxyfen” is also spelled “pyroproxyfen” in some publications.)

Read the Argentina doctors’ report on pyriproxyfen

After the doctors’ group report, one Brazilian state announced it would stop putting pyriproxyfen in drinking water.

Chemical interests and medical authorities, including the World Health Organization, attacked the Argentina doctors’ report and said there was no cause for concern about pyriproxyfen, which they said is safe to drink at low levels. Other pyriproxyfen supporters launched a campaign to declare concerns about it “rumor” and a “debunked,” “ridiculous” “conspiracy theory” by “cranks.”  including a propagandist known for pushing the pharmaceutical industry’s interests: David Gorski a/k/a “ORAC.”

WHO says

This dispute led to an edit war on Wikipedia.

Read the NPR report on why medical experts say there’s no concern about pyriproxyfen

Doctors say there’s no “smoking gun” that links Zika to microcephaly, but that all the evidence taken together indicates there’s an association.

There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes. Zika is spread primarily by just one of them: Aedes species  (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus). Most U.S. states do not have this species.

Within the continental U.S., the Aedes aegypti mosquito that has spread most Zika cases is common only in Florida along the Gulf Coast.

For the minority who actually get sick from Zika, symptoms may include joint pain and swelling, conjunctivitis and cold symptoms.

You’re not supposed to spray bug repellent on skin under clothing.

A pregnant woman applies mosquito repellant. Photo: CDC

The Obama administration has requested about $1.9 billion to fight Zika.

Half the requested taxpayer funds are for projects outside of the U.S.

Human travelers from Zika-ridden countries are not being screened…but primates are. Monkeys and apes imported into the U.S. undergo a mandatory 31-day quarantine period on arrival.

Microcephaly birth defects are not reported in monkeys and apes with Zika.

Once antibodies develop, a person or primate can no longer spread Zika. Humans are believed contagious for about a week.

Zika is not considered a fatal disease. CDC says it only “very rarely” contributes to death.

Zika was given emergency status though no cases had been transmitted in the continental U.S. That’s in stark contrast to the mysterious, contagious EV-D68 and AFM outbreak in 2014. CDC said that outbreak afflicted millions of Americans, occurred in every state, paralyzed at least 115 children and killed at least 14. There was no emergency declaration or funding request, and CDC deflected many questions and slow-walked a Freedom of Information request about EV-D68 and AFM.

Zika can rarely, possibly cause Guillain-BarrĂ© syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the nerves causing paralysis. So can some vaccines, according to CDC, including flu and swine flu vaccines.

Microcephaly has also been associated with pregnant women using alcohol, drugs and getting other infections.

Some in the health sector have questioned a possible link to mirocephaly and Tdap vaccine introduced into the regimen for pregnant women in Brazil in late 2014.

The World Health Organization dismisses the possibility of a Tdap vaccine link saying the Brazilian government has one of the most stringent health regulatory authorities in the world.

At least 15 companies have been working on developing a Zika vaccine.

Congress and the Obama administration agree that at least $140 to $200 million tax dollars should go to vaccine development.

Normally, microcephaly occurs in about 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000 of all births.



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