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No reason to panic as Zika pandemic 'explodes' acr

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    Posted: January 30 2016 at 8:04pm


No reason to panic as Zika pandemic 'explodes' across the Americas

t is entirely reasonable to be concerned about what the World Health Organization is calling the “explosive” spread of Zika virus across the Americas. It's reasonable as well to demand that health officials at home and abroad move expeditiously to combat the virus and that they proceed on the assumption — as yet unproved — that the mosquito-borne virus can cause severe birth defects. Pregnant women would be wise to rethink trips to Brazil and other Zika hot spots, and, of course, to take precautions to avoid mosquitoes.

What is not reasonable at this early stage in the pandemic is to overreact — particularly in the United States, where the outbreak is expected to be mild, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While authorities in Puerto Rico, El Salvador and other Latin American countries are already taking the drastic step of advising women to refrain from having babies for the immediate future, such measures are not necessary in the U.S. at the moment.

One reason the U.S. won't be so badly affected is because of the experience gained from preparing for previous outbreaks of imported pathogens — H1N1, SARS, MERS and Ebola among them. Also because of the widespread use of window screens and air conditioning in areas where the particular mosquito that carries Zika — Aedes aegypti — is commonly found, including California. WHO officials, who were criticized for not moving fast enough during last year's Ebola outbreak, have been responding quickly to Zika, as have officials at the CDC and in California and L.A. County.

For 80% of people who are infected, the virus is usually mild; a rash and a fever are common symptoms. But scientists have become increasingly concerned about a possible connection to microcephaly, a rare condition in which babies are born with small heads and brain damage. Some 3,500 cases have been diagnosed in babies born to Brazilian women, many of whom were infected with Zika, and though there is no definitive evidence, the suspected link is strong enough to warrant urgent study.

World Health Organization officials say determining whether there really is a link will take at least six months and that it could be at least a year before there's a vaccine. That's worrisome because half a million people are expected to stream into Rio de Janeiro for the summer Olympic Games in August. Finding the link, if there is one, should be put at the top of the WHO's agenda during its emergency meeting Monday.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-zika-virus-20160131-story.html

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Albert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 30 2016 at 8:13pm
As Zika Virus Approaches Pandemic, World Health Executives Plan Emergency Action


Alarm over the Zika virus reached new heights Thursday, as the World Health Organization (WHO) devoted its executive session in Geneva to addressing the growing pandemic.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO, said the “heartbreaking” outbreak had transitioned “from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions.”


Dr. Chan also announced a February 1 meeting of the Emergency Committee to decide whether to declare a public health emergency.

The virus has reached near pandemic levels since arriving in Brazil in 2015, infecting 1.5 million people in that country.

“The level of alarm is extremely high,” said Dr. Chan.

Dr. Vanessa Van Der Linden, the neuro-pediatrician who first recognized and alerted authorities over the microcephaly crisis in Brazil, measures the head of a 2-month-old baby with microcephaly on January 27, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. The baby's mother was diagnosed with having the Zika virus during her pregnancy.

The virus can cause microcephaly, or abnormal smallness of the head, in infants whose mothers are infected by the disease. It has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disease of the nervous system that eats away at the insulating material — myelin sheaths — that cover our neurons. A certain kind of warm-weather mosquito, known for carrying Dengue fever, also transmits Zika.

“We cannot tolerate the prospect of more babies being born with neurological and other malformations and more people facing the threat of paralysis,” said Dr. Carissa Etienne, the regional-director for the WHO Pan American Health Organization.

Zika began spreading in a relatively small swath of Africa and Asia over the past few decades. The virus recently reached the Americas — where natural immunity is less common — and exploded, already reaching near pandemic levels.

“This year’s El Nino weather patterns are expected to increase mosquito populations greatly in many areas,” said Dr. Chan.

Affected regions include Brazil, Mexico, Haiti, and early reports indicate it has jumped to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In a sign of the mounting threat, United Airlines recently announced it would offer refunds to anyone planning to travel to affected areas in the Americas.

https://www.inverse.com/article/10716-as-zika-virus-approaches-pandemic-world-health-executives-plan-emergency-action
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Albert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 30 2016 at 8:22pm
It sounds like they will be declaring a Public Health Emergency early next week, would be my guess.   I wouldn't rule out the WHO declaring a pandemic.  Although, there would have to be some level of limited human-to-human transmission for that happen, in my opinion.    Limited h2h + the mosquito vector would allow it to spread somewhat efficiently, albeit slowly, or much slower than a traditional flu pandemic.  I don't believe speed of spread is defined in a pandemic, but more-so overall geographical spread, and community spread to some degree.   I believe on the  pandemic severity scale, which ranges from a Cat. 1 - Cat. 5, it's based on number of deaths.  So who knows.
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