Zika what?

CEBU, Philippines - A recent news report in the The Freeman relayed the announcement by the Department of Health that the country now had its first case of a pregnant woman diagnosed with the Zika virus. The woman was from Cebu, the report said, a 22-year-old who was in her fifth month of pregnancy.

Good thing, according to the report, the results of the test conducted on the woman showed that the baby is healthy and is not showing any signs of abnormality like microcephaly.

Yet the news does not seem to have sounded the alarm with the public at large. Many are still ignorant about the Zika threat. "Zika what?" is a common response when a discussion about Zika is attempted. The question is not even necessarily an inquiry about the dreaded virus. It's actually a homonym of the more casual "Sick of what?"

This is really a concern. Some pregnant women may be unknowingly infected. Or it can be that a woman may have the symptoms but doesn't know it is Zika and she doesn't even know she's pregnant.

It is important, therefore, for pregnant women - and women who think they may be pregnant - to have themselves checked. Otherwise, they expose their babies to the risk of microcephaly, a birth defect characterized by an abnormally small head and brain size. Microcephaly may cause mental retardation, as well as delays in speech, movement, and growth, according to the Mayo Clinic.

In Brazil, where an outbreak of Zika was reported, health authorities have reported more than 3,500 microcephaly cases between October 2015 and January 2016. Some of the affected infants have had a severe type of microcephaly and some have died. In the U.S., the Center for Diseases Control (CDC) has noted in  its report in February this year that the Zika virus in nine pregnant U.S. travelers they studied was associated with two early pregnancy losses, two elective terminations, the birth of a baby with severe microcephaly, two healthy births, and two continuing healthy pregnancies. The CDC has established a registry to track pregnant U.S. women who have a laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection, as well as infants born with Zika-related birth defects and pregnancy losses from birth defects.

Eighteen babies have been born in the United States with confirmed Zika-related birth defects, and the CDC had confirmed five pregnancy losses in which the fetuses had birth defects. After considering mounting evidence, researchers concluded in a special report that Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause microcephaly, as well as other severe brain abnormalities.

Back here in Cebu, Dr. Van Philip Baton, regional medical program coordinator for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, said that the female Zika victim was still in her 19th week of pregnancy when tested with Zika, according to The Freeman report.  The victim had reportedly been discharged from the hospital after the findings of an ultra sound procedure were all 'normal'. Regular pre-natal tests on the woman were said to be ongoing, which is very important since complications like microcephaly may appear later, according to Dr. Baton.

The origin of Zika is traced back to 1947, when scientists researching yellow fever placed a rhesus macaque in a cage in the Zika Forest (zika means "overgrown" in the Luganda language), near the East African Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda. The monkey developed a fever, and researchers isolated from its serum a transmissible agent that was first described as Zika virus in 1952.

The virus was later found in a human in Nigeria in 1954. From its discovery until 2007, confirmed cases of Zika virus infection from Africa and Southeast Asia were rare. In 2007, however, a major epidemic occurred in Yap Island, Micronesia. Epidemics had also occurred in Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia.

Many people infected with Zika virus won't have symptoms or only have mild symptoms. If symptoms occur at all, these would include: fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis or red eyes, as well muscle pain and headache. The symptoms may last for several days to a week.

Zika is quite tricky in terms of symptoms. Infected people usually don't get sick enough to make going to the hospital necessary, and they very rarely die of Zika. They may not even realize they have been infected. Zika symptoms are similar to other viruses spread through mosquito bites, like dengue and chikungunya.

It is, therefore, advisable to see a doctor once the slightest symptom is noticed - especially among pregnant women. (FREEMAN)