The Zika Virus

[Cachoo]

I'm opening this thread because the more I hear/read about this the more alarmed I become for the people infected, for those living in the areas affected and for all of the Olympians who will be heading to Rio.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/zika-virus-outbreak-who-chief-convenes-emergency-committee-meeting-n505706


http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35427493

 

[Jimena]

I'm working on this right now. Will be glad to answer questions.

 

[Skittl1321]

This is really terrifying (coming from someone who is hoping to be pregnant again this year). And not just to those going to South America. It's going to spread through North America. Cases have already been confirmed (from travelers in affected regions returning home) in the US. Once it warms up and the mosquitos are out there, it will travel.

I'm really interested to know how the US and Canada will handle it.

 

[Cachoo]

I'm working on this right now. Will be glad to answer questions.

Is this something brand new?

 

[oleada]

Is this something brand new?

I am not Jimena, but the Zika virus is not new. It has existed in Africa for a long time but it spread to Brazil in early 2015 (presumably brought over during he World Cup) and it's now that the link to microcephaly is being explored, given the explosion in cases in Brazil.

It is not dangerous if you are not pregnant - you normally get fever, malaise, rash etc. It is not clear whether having the virus and getting pregnant later affects the fetus.

 

[Skittl1321]

and it's now that the link to microcephaly is being explored, given the explosion in cases in Brazil.

It is interesting that the virus has been around and the link has never been seen. I do wonder if something else is going on in Brazil to cause the birth defect. But it still scares the crap out of me.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

The 2 year suggested waiting time to have kids after being infected in countries where BC is difficult to get sounds really terrifying for those potential parents. Esp if you are not sure if you had the virus - it can be very mild.

 

[rfisher]

It is interesting that the virus has been around and the link has never been seen. I do wonder if something else is going on in Brazil to cause the birth defect. But it still scares the crap out of me.

More likely there was very little research done in Africa.

 

[Jimena]

What's going on in Brazil is that it has a huge population with no immunity to the virus. It's likely that in endemic areas this virus infected people when they were young so you didn't see its (possible) effects because women had already had the disease (or where surrounded by people who had and thus couldn't transmit the virus) by the time they got pregnant.

Personally, if we identify a hot spot in Puerto Rico, I'm taking myself and my two year old daughter there to get this over with. This is less dangerous than dengue and much less painful than chikungunya.

As to its possible spread in the continental US, this follows a similar spread to dengue. One of the reasons it's not endemic there is because people spend most of their lives inside and with air conditioner. The lifestyle is really not conducive to transmission.

That said, we're putting together all the studies to make sure we really understand the risk factors and what's really going on. Unfortunately, that's of no help to people that are in outbreak areas right now and are either pregnant or looking to be. It's really, really scary.

 

[Cachoo]

I saw a sweet little baby on the news with a head that looks like Shrek. I know looking "different" is hard enough but I'm most worried about learning difficulties. I hope a smaller brain doesn't mean "less." It is ridiculously easy for this to spread. I don't know how we will get on top of it before it becomes much worse.

 

[Andrushka]

It's made it to the U.S. ,there's a case in Arkansas...http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/...ia-arkansas-test-positive-for-zika-virus.html

 

[oleada]

It's made it to the U.S. ,there's a case in Arkansas...http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/...ia-arkansas-test-positive-for-zika-virus.html

There were already confirmed cases in New York, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and several other states. They were all people who traveled to affected countries and became infected there.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

I didn't see this hence I created a new thread in the other sports section, especially since Rio is going to be hosting the Olympics later this year.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...us-threatens-rio-olympics.97777/#post-4699728

 

[twinsissv]

I'd absolutely hate to be in the Olympics in Brazil this time around.
Garbage floating out in polluted ocean waters, political problems getting more serious, crime concerns and now fear of mosquito bites. What's next?
How can athletes even try to concentrate on competitions?

 

[Deleted member 40371]

I'd absolutely hate to be in the Olympics in Brazil this time around.
Garbage floating out in polluted ocean waters, political problems getting more serious, crime concerns and now fear of mosquito bites. What's next?
How can athletes even try to concentrate on competitions?

You make it sound like no sporting events have been held in Brazil before Olympics. Many world cups and Grand Prix events are held in Brazil even before Olympics were awarded the games. In these event athletes from the developed countries do take part. Political crisis comment makes it sound like the events have been held in Syria; all countries have these problems. Can't the same be said of the US, where a leading Presidential candidate wants to restrict access to people of a particular religion to enter the country; a religion practised by more than a billion people. Crime, street fights, racial equality, are all issues everywhere.

The purpose of the post was not to score a political goal. Zika virus is a huge concern and that is why I posted it on the thread. The virus is not Brazilian origin, it is from Africa and have had outbreaks elsewhere. We need to treat as such and see what Brazilian authorities, WHO and IOC decides regarding the games.

 

[twinsissv]

You make it sound like no sporting events have been held in Brazil before Olympics. Many world cups and Grand Prix events are held in Brazil even before Olympics were awarded the games. In these event athletes from the developed countries do take part. Political crisis comment makes it sound like the events have been held in Syria; all countries have these problems. Can't the same be said of the US, where a leading Presidential candidate wants to restrict access to people of a particular religion to enter the country; a religion practised by more than a billion people. Crime, street fights, racial equality, are all issues everywhere.

The purpose of the post was not to score a political goal. Zika virus is a huge concern and that is why I posted it on the thread. The virus is not Brazilian origin, it is from Africa and have had outbreaks elsewhere. We need to treat as such and see what Brazilian authorities, WHO and IOC decides regarding the games.

Good grief...calm down. I'm merely repeating segments seen in newsprint and broadcast on tv in recent weeks. Mine was not a discussion of world events but some cautious observations that were being put forward by others. Besides...I never linked to your post so don't take it so personally.

 

[once_upon]

@twinsissv I think it was a personal attack on Brazil rather than a reflection of what you now say is a recap of what the US news is reporting.

The virus is a world health issue, not a particular country issue.

Every single Olympics has similar "scare" tactics associated with them. It gets reported on unprepared, the hygiene of things, the athletes village, the political environment for as long as I remember - 1976, 1980, etc. But even before that pre WW2. Heck even ancient Olympics.

We need to focus on the virus - which is a health issue.

 

[Deleted member 1204]

Good grief...calm down.

Gonna call bulls*t on this one. First you make a xenophobic attack toward Brazil, not the virus, and then you aren't even strong enough to stand by your comment but rather claim to just be repeating what others have said elsewhere.

 

[ballettmaus]

Gonna call bulls*t on this one. First you make a xenophobic attack toward Brazil, not the virus, and then you aren't even strong enough to stand by your comment but rather claim to just be repeating what others have said elsewhere.

While Brazil is certainly not the only country with the issues mentioned, they are the truth, so I'm not sure it can be considered an attack against Brazil. As far as the virus is concerned, I have no idea if the seriousness of it is getting hyped up due to the Olympics or not but I wouldn't be surprised if the spreading in Brazil wouldn't get nearly as much attention without the Olympics. After all, everything else didn't get nearly as much attention before the World Cup either...

 

[Jem X]

Wow, a couple of hosts on a sports radio station here in Chicago are advising any of the athletes that may be boating or swimming in the polluted water venues to boycott. Who wants to catch cholera or MRSA? So this is way worse than just the Zika virus. And the sailing federation fired their CEO when he advised the sailing community to move the sailing events from Guanabara Bay.

There have been plenty of stories published about the problems, so I am not sure how anyone can be surprised.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...pic-water-consistently-contaminated/76654482/

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cabd...lympic-water-badly-polluted-even-far-offshore

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/rio-olympi...-swimming-boating-faeces-ridden-water-1513673