Zika virus was first recognized in Uganda in 1947. Similar to dengue fever and West Nile virus, it typically is not harmful to the people it infects. 20% of people infected with Zika virus show symptoms, with hospitalisation occurring in very few cases. Zika was brought into the public health spotlight as recently as 2016, raising concern about the effects of the virus during pregnancy. Transmitted via mosquito bite, Zika can be passed from person to person during sex or from mother to child. While South Africa has mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus, it has never reported a Zika outbreak.
The most common symptoms of Zika are:
Many people with Zika do not present with symptoms at all. Since the global occurrence of Zika cases has declined since 2016 and Zika is known to resolve without antiviral treatment, testing for Zika rarely occurs unless someone presents with symptoms and has been in a country that is currently experiencing an outbreak.
Zika in humans is caused by the infected Aedes species of mosquito. Mosquitoes infected with Zika bite humans, passing the virus to them. Humans infected with Zika can pass it to other humans through sexual intercourse and from a woman to the foetus she’s carrying. It is believed that blood transfusions can also transmit Zika, but there is not enough evidence to fully support this claim yet.
While pregnant women should take extra care to avoid areas with Zika outbreaks in order to protect their foetuses, there is no evidence that being pregnant puts you at more risk of contracting Zika virus.
Travelling to an area with a Zika outbreak is a risk factor for contracting the virus on an individual level. On a population level, living in an area with a high concentration of mosquitoes, a high rate of Zika infections, crowded living spaces, and a low gross domestic product per capita are all risk factors for getting Zika. The less economic resources individuals have to protect themselves from mosquitoes carrying Zika and to invest in sanitation and hygiene, the more likely they are to get the disease.
In order to diagnose Zika, a doctor will take a sample of your blood or urine. A lab will analyse these in order to detect the presence of the virus or the presence of proteins the body produces to fight the virus.
The most common and dangerous complication of Zika is a birth defect in a foetus. A lot is not known about the association between a Zika infection in a pregnant mother and the effects on the foetus. The likelihood of birth defects is uncertain – it’s hard to determine if a foetus with an infected mother will have birth defects. It’s also not known how the effects of the mother having Zika during pregnancy will unfold over the lifetime of the foetus.
However, abnormally small head size (microcephaly), a smaller than normal amount of brain tissue, abnormal joint development, and abnormal muscle tone have all been observed in babies that were born to mothers who had Zika while they were pregnant.
There are currently no antiviral treatments for Zika virus. If you’ve been infected with Zika, rest, drink lots of fluids, and take medicine to reduce any fever and pain. While Tylenol is considered a safe option, avoid any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) until other viruses that resemble Zika, like dengue fever, have been ruled out. These include aspirin, ibuprofen, and Aleve. If you do have dengue fever and take an NSAID, it can increase the risk of internal bleeding.
While there is no vaccine for Zika, mosquito net use, environmentally safe bug spray, use of condoms, and avoiding areas that are experiencing a Zika outbreak are effective ways to prevent the transmission of Zika virus.