EDITORIAL - Fearing disease not something to avoid

Health officials in the region are making a big mistake in the manner in which they try to reassure people about the Zika virus. For them to tell people not to fear Zika because there is nothing to fear about the virus is a terrible thing to do for health officials. Reassuring people in the kind of language it was said can lead to disastrous consequences.

Health officials, of course, are supposed to know whereof they speak. They are the doctors. They are the medical experts. But to say there is nothing to fear about the virus is dangerous. It can lead to complacency. It can lead to a dropping of everyone's guard, a guard raised precisely because the rest of the countries in the world are on edge about Zika.

It in fact baffles people to be told there is nothing to fear about Zika when the rest of the world fears it like the plague. Zika is a disease dangerous to pregnant women or women of child-bearing age because its affects the brain development of the fetus. Health officials may be trying to ward off a panic, and that is good. But it should not come at the expense of getting complacent about Zika.

The fact that the virus is dangerous to children in the womb makes it dangerous. Period. That the virus seeks a specific target does not make it any less of a concern. On the contrary, relaxing the guard against Zika can lead to other relaxations that can prove to be even more dangerous. Remember that Zika is not the only disease caused by mosquitoes.

A person, any person – man, woman or child – lured by false assurances about Zika and drops the guard against mosquitoes can become an open target to any mosquito-borne disease, including the dreaded dengue. To a less severe extent, the symptoms of Zika are said to be quite similar to those of dengue. But people really have no time to waste on questions of severity.

Nobody can truly ignore disease, any disease. Everyone must remain vigilant. It is better to be vigilant than to be over-confident or worse, negligent. And while fear can be counterproductive sometimes, it is always better to be fearful and safe than to be cocky and sorry. Indeed, there is wisdom in the age-old admonition – an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

So fear Zika. Do not listen to those who say there is nothing to fear about the Zika virus. While their motives may be good and fair, they are of no use when you come down with the disease. In a poor country like the Philippines, where hospitalization is almost never an option, people cannot afford to get sick. And one of the best chances for people to avoid sickness is to be alert, even fearful of disease and their causes.