Zika virus alert: Sexual transmission common, says WHO

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Geneva: The sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common than previously thought, the World Health Organisation has said, citing reports from several countries.

After a meeting of its emergency committee on Tuesday, the UN health agency also said there is increasing evidence that a spike in disturbing birth defects is caused by Zika, which is mostly spread by mosquito bites.

China's Margaret Chan, General Director of the World Health Organisation, in Geneva on Tuesday.
China’s Margaret Chan, General Director of the World Health Organisation, in Geneva on Tuesday. Photo: AP

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said “reports and investigations in several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission of the virus is more common than previously assumed”.

The US is investigating more than a dozen possible cases of Zika in people who may have been infected through sex.

A Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika seen through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco ...
A Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika seen through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.  Photo: AP

She also said nine countries have now reported increasing cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare condition that can cause temporary paralysis and death, in people beyond women of child-bearing age, including children, teenagers and older adults.

“All of this news is alarming,” Dr Chan said.

The organisation also cautioned pregnant women against travelling to areas where there is ongoing transmission of Zika virus – something the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention advised more than a month ago.

Despite the lack of definitive evidence proving that Zika causes birth defects and neurological problems, Dr Chan said officials shouldn’t wait for definitive scientific proof before making recommendations.

Researchers have created a cellular model of the human placenta to help uncover how infections, from toxoplasmosis to ...
Researchers have created a cellular model of the human placenta to help uncover how infections, from toxoplasmosis to the Zika virus, may pass from a mother to her unborn child.  Photo: University of Pittsburgh/AP

“Women who are pregnant in affected countries or travel to these countries are understandably deeply worried,” she said.

WHO recommends pregnant women avoid travel to areas with ongoing Zika outbreaks and that if their partners travel to affected countries, they should practice safe sex or abstain from sex for the duration of their pregnancy.

The agency last month said the explosive outbreak in the Americas constitutes a global emergency.

 

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