Summer Season Calls For Better Zika Prevention Efforts

This year, the summer season needs to be welcomed with a little better prevention strategy. People not only need to equip themselves with sunscreens and lotions, but with better Zika prevention efforts as well.

The health officials and the US have already issued a warning about the possible increase of the Zika-infection mosquito population across the mainland's southern borders, including the Gulf Coast and Florida. The officials expect these regions to be hit by mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus in another few weeks.

Considering the fact that a number of people plan to visit other countries in summers, the officials have warned people to remain vigilant. The list of numbers of countries infected by the virus has only grown since the outbreak was first reported in Brazil last year. More recently, Argentina, Peru, St. Barts and Grenada were also included in the list of Zika-infected countries.

Meanwhile, a joint study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has confirmed the association between Zika infection and the increased number of children being born with a rare birth defect called microcephaly.

An infant born with this birth defect has abnormally small head due to incomplete brain development. While the link between microcephaly and Zika infection was long suspected since its first observation in Brazil, the association was not confirmed until recently.

The virus has also been linked to some of the cases of an autoimmune nervous disorder in adults called Guillain-Barré. The WHO is also investigating the role of the virus in causing another disorder called ADEM. It is a serious neurological condition that results in an attack of inflammation of the spinal cord and the brain.

Therefore, people have been requested not to race around in flip flops in case they are planning to visit a Zika-infected country. In fact, they should keep up-to-date information about the Zika infection and must take advice on precautions that they must take this summer.