Women who are pregnant or planning to get pregnant should avoid traveling to areas where Zika virus infection is spreading, and people who have visited those areas should follow the “2226 principle” to prevent the spread of the virus, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology said yesterday.
There are 61 countries or areas that have reported indigenous cases of Zika, and the CDC has raised its travel advisory to “alert” for 56 countries or areas where the virus is spreading, including Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Maldives.
Chen Chie-pein (陳治平), director of the high-risk pregnancy division at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, said that about 80 percent of the people who catch the Zika virus might not develop symptoms or only mild symptoms, but the virus could be a serious problem for pregnant women.
“If a pregnant woman gets infected by Zika during the first trimester, the risk of the baby being born with microcephaly [a neurological condition in which an infant’s head is significantly smaller than average] is between 1 and 13 percent,” he said.
“The risk is slightly lower in later trimesters,” he added.
CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said common symptoms of Zika infection are fever, rashes, joint pain, conjunctivitis and sometimes headaches or a strong pain behind the eyes.
If travel to areas with active mosquito-borne transmission of Zika cannot be avoided, travelers should try to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and follow the “2226 principle” to prevent the virus from spreading, Kuo said.
The 2226 principle means that people who visit areas with Zika virus infection should seek medical treatment if symptoms occur within two weeks after returning home; women should delay getting pregnant for at least two months; men should avoid having sex or use condoms for at least two months; and men suspected of having or diagnosed with Zika should use condoms or not have sex for at least six months.
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