Zika’s Growing Threat: How to Protect Yourself and Your Family
Zika is a virus spread by infected mosquitoes that has slowly expanded its geographic reach. It is often mild in adults—if symptoms appear at all—but it can be incredibly dangerous in pregnant women due to the risk posed to their growing child.
The best way to protect yourself against Zika is to be aware of its geographic risk areas, take proper precautions when traveling to these areas, and be on alert for symptoms potentially indicating a Zika infection during and after your trip.
Zika’s Growing Threat: How to Protect Yourself and Your Family
Zika is a virus spread by infected mosquitoes that has slowly expanded its geographic reach. It is often mild in adults—if symptoms appear at all—but it can be incredibly dangerous in pregnant women due to the risk posed to their growing child.
The best way to protect yourself against Zika is to be aware of its geographic risk areas, take proper precautions when traveling to these areas, and be on alert for symptoms potentially indicating a Zika infection during and after your trip.
What is Zika?
Zika is a virus that can spread through three methods:
- bite of an infected mosquito of the Aedes species (by far most frequent transmission mode)
- sexually from an infected individual to their sexual partner
- From a pregnant individual to the fetus
While the Zika virus was first identified in 1947, only sporadic human infections occurred. However, since 2007, there have been Zika-outbreaks throughout Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific.
Symptoms
The majority of people who become infected with Zika do not develop any symptoms, and if they do, they are generally mild.
Common symptoms are:
- Fever
- Rash
- Joint and muscle pain
- Headaches
- Red eyes
These symptoms, if they develop, typically appear within 3-14 days after infection and last for 2-7 days. Since they also appear when infected with other viruses, the only way to determine whether it is Zika is through a lab test.
Treatment
There is no specific medication available to treat Zika. Instead, it’s recommended to treat the symptoms through rest, drinking fluids, and taking over-the-counter medication to reduce fever and pain. However, it is not recommended to take aspirin or NSAR medications such as ibuprofen unless dengue infection has been ruled out by blood testing. The symptoms of dengue and Zika are very similar. In addition, it is possible to be infected with both dengue and Zika at the same time. If you suspect a Zika infection, reach out to your doctor so that they can confirm the diagnosis and provide their recommendations for treatment.
Risk Areas
The Zika virus is most common in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Southern Asia, the Americas, and the Western Pacific. It is most prevalent in these areas because their hot and humid climate is preferred by mosquitos—the most common source of a Zika transmission.
Danger to Pregnant Women
Zika can be especially troubling for pregnant women because they can pass the virus to their babies where it can cause certain birth defects. While the risk of these congenital malformations is unknown, it’s estimated that between 5-14% of infants born to women who were infected with Zika develop complications related to the virus.
Even more dangerous is that these complications for the fetuses can occur even if the mother has an asymptomatic infection, making prevention all the more important, especially in high-risk areas.
Is There A Vaccine For Zika?
There are currently no vaccines available against Zika. However, mobilization efforts to develop a vaccine are in effect, also due to the gradually widening geographical distribution of Zika, which places more areas in high-risk zones.
Various Zika vaccines remain in the development process, with many vaccines successfully completing a phase 1 clinical trial and some even making it to phase 2 clinical studies. Until the development is complete, however, and the vaccines are verified for human distribution and use, they are not available to the general public.
A challenge with these clinical trials is that when Zika incidence wanes, there are not enough candidates available to participate in the trial. Roadblocks such as this can considerably prolong the development process.
Zika: A Growing Concern
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that favors areas with warm and humid climates. However, its geographical reach is expanding, increasing the need for a viable vaccine, especially considering the health concerns that Zika poses to fetuses.
While there is no vaccine currently available for Zika, there are many in development. In the meantime, knowing how to protect yourself from mosquito bites is the best way to protect yourself from Zika. You can do this by
- wearing mosquito repellent with a DEET content of 30-50%,
- wearing long, light-colored clothing (which can additionally be treated with an insecticide)
- sleeping under an intact mosquito net with the air conditioning running.
A travel consultant at ZRM can help you evaluate how to optimally prepare for your individual travel plans. Book a travel consultation to better understand what you may be at risk of while traveling, the vaccines that are recommended, and how you can ensure you stay healthy while traveling.
References
- Musso, D., Ko, A. I., & Baud, D. (2019). Zika Virus Infection — After the Pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(15), 1444–1457. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmra1808246
- Woodson, S. E., & Morabito, K. M. (2024). Continuing development of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies against Zika virus. Npj Vaccines, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-024-00889-x
- Important health risks. (2024). HealthyTravel. https://www.healthytravel.ch/page?id=AE119FE4-E57C-448B-BC19-6FC144B9B060&a=78417
- Latest News. (2024). HealthyTravel. https://www.healthytravel.ch/page?id=3D10BE14-F6EF-44FF-987C-42605D8087AB&a=142173
- Zika virus. (2015). https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/krankheiten-im-ueberblick/zika.html