Zika virus

Zika virus

Subject: Science and Tech

Context: Kerala is on alert after detecting at least 15 cases of the Zika virus. All district administrations have been told to keep a close eye on cases of mosquito bites, and conduct fumigation drives.

Concept:

• Zika is a viral infection, It spread by Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue and chikungunya.
• It is a contagious disease, infected people can transmit Zika sexually. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) of Zika virus disease is estimated to be 3-14 days
• It was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys, Zika was detected in humans five years later.
• Sporadic cases have been reported throughout the world since the 1960s, but the first outbreak happened only in 2007 in the Island of Yap in the Pacific.
• A major outbreak in Brazil led to the revelation that Zika can be associated with microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with small and underdeveloped brains.
• In India, Zika virus was first recorded in 1952-53. The latest major outbreak was in 2018, when 80 cases were reported in Rajasthan.
• It results involve microcephaly, especially when pregnant women are infected.
• It has been reported a steep increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome — a neurological disorder that could lead to paralysis and death, according to the WHO.

The symptoms of Zika virus

• Most people infected with the virus do not develop symptoms.
• The symptoms are similar to those of flu, including fever body ache, headache etc.
• The symptoms worsen, people should seek medical advice, the occasional rash like in dengue, while some patients also have conjunctivitis.

Treatment

• Zika virus usually require rest, consumption of plenty of fluids, and common pain and fever medicines
• Zika has no treatment or vaccine.