The CDC has issued an alert for travel to areas where Zika virus is spreading.Travelers who are pregnant or considering pregnancy should consult a doctor. In most cases, there are no symptoms. In pregnant women, it may cause subsequent birth defects.
There's no vaccine or specific treatment. Instead the focus is on relieving symptoms and includes rest, rehydration, and acetaminophen for fever and pain. Aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen should be avoided.
Zika is a virus that can cause serious problems during pregnancy. If you're pregnant and infected with Zika virus, you can pass it to your baby. Zika infection during pregnancy causes a birth defect called microcephaly and other brain problems.
Many people infected with Zika won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms. However, a pregnant woman, even one without symptoms, can pass Zika to her developing fetus. Zika infection during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects. Zika virus primarily spreads when a mosquito infected with Zika bites you. Zika also can spread through sex with a man or woman who has Zika. Sex includes vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and the sharing of sex toys. Zika can pass through sex even if the person does not have symptoms at the time.
The Zika virus has been linked to unusually small heads and brain damage in newborns — called microcephaly — in children born to infected mothers, as well as blindness, deafness, seizures and other congenital defects. In adults, the virus is linked to a form of temporary paralysis, called Guillain-Barré syndrome.
www.cdc.gov/zika/pregnancy/
