Zika Virus and travel yes or no

[juddles]

Amaroo, for the record, I have no financial interest whatsoever in the Colombian tourism industry

But I do feel for people who get an extra kick in the guts for no reason.

And I would never walk down George Street - feel much safer in Colombia

 

[drron]

Zika has been known in Africa since the 1940s.It has been found for quite some time in tourist areas closer to Australia-Thailand,Malaysia,Indonesia,Vietnam,Phillipines.Last year a case was reported in Finland in someone returning from the Maldives.
Microcephaly has many causes but viruses certainly are implicated-rubella,CMV,Toxoplasma,Varicella.But there are also genetic causes.Drugs as well especially alcohol in pregnancy.Zika has not been implicated before now in it's causation but still always wise to be cautious.

 

[amaroo]

Not sure how this reporting is any different to many others i.e. SARS, Bird Flu...

We're all still getting scanned in HKG...

 

[juddles]

Not sure how this reporting is any different to many others i.e. SARS, Bird Flu...

We're all still getting scanned in HKG...

The main difference is that Zika hasn't actually yet been shown to actually really hurt people.

Not a single death in 60 years of studying it.

 

[amaroo]

The main difference is that Zika hasn't actually yet been shown to actually really hurt people.

I'm sure that was the case with all the others.... until they found something!

 

[juddles]

No, on the contrary. Other well-known viruses have been proven nasty. Zika has not, despite decade after decade of following. There are 100's of similar viruses. This one just has a cool name. And everyone is bored with Ebola.

 

[amaroo]

No, on the contrary. Other well-known viruses have been proven nasty. Zika has not, despite decade after decade of following. There are 100's of similar viruses. This one just has a cool name. And everyone is bored with Ebola

Sounds like you work for the CDC, WHO or something similar ... are you a specialist in this field?

The CDC home page is interesting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

[juddles]

No, I just mingle with ex-pats on the front-line

 

[amaroo]

No, I just mingle with ex-pats on the front-line

Good stuff. Best of luck with that!

 

[k_sheep]

Sounds like you work for the CDC, WHO or something similar ... are you a specialist in this field?

Juddles may not be but I am somewhat. And he makes some very good points.

But anything that helps with mosquito control in malaria and dengue endemic area is a good thing.

 

[marki]

Great article in the WSJ

I am not allowed to show any more but frequently going to the website for the first time gets u thru. ( free)
A lot of the pregnant females did remember having a fleeting itchy rash.

 

[drron]

Rubella is also a fleeting sometimes itchy rash and is a known cause of microcephaly.

 

[amaroo]

Where there is smoke - there is fire...

 

[drron]

And in medicine because 2 things happen together doesn't mean there is necessarily cause and effect.

 

[juddles]

Where there is smoke - there is fire...

Where there are alarm bells - there are many many dollars

 

[amaroo]

This will be catastrophic for tourism and general travel plans. If we were younger and thinking about starting a family - I wouldn't travel!

Having just come back from Paris (with my young family) it's easy to see the result of world events on tourism Paris tourism continues to be hit hard by Isis terror attacks | Daily Mail Online

 

[amaroo]

Where there are alarm bells - there are many many dollars

Every now and again those alarm bells mean something!

Given the weight of interest from the world's major health organisations - I don't see the sense of hanging around to see the result.

 

[drron]

There may be a weight of interest but it is very light on evidence.Plus this warning only applies to pregnant women and probably only those in the early stages of pregnancy.By the way there are still 100000 cases of Rubella caused birth defects each year around the world with absolutely zip media interest.

Here is an article on the evidence-
Zika virus: Brazil's surge in small-headed babies questioned by report : Nature News & Comment

And here is the original report translated into English-
http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/7.33594!/file/NS-724-2015_ECLAMC-ZIKA VIRUS_V-FINAL_012516.pdf



[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]The current data, affected by the change of criterion determining the measurement of head circumference to suspect microcephaly do not allow to assess whether: [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]1. a real increase in microcephaly prevalence at birth occurred in Northeastern Brazil
2. what was the magnitude of this increase
3. was this increase due to exposure to the ZIKV or increased exposure to one or more environmental causes of microcephaly (STORCH, alcohol, prematurity, diabetes, etc.).
•
[/FONT][/FONT]

And please the travel precautions are just for pregnant women.The rest of us should have no qualms about travelling to Brazil.I do however agree with the travel directive until the facts are in.

 

[Deleted member]

Aside from it being a virus, and not a good look anyway, is there any other side effect that will warrant a postponement of travel?

 

[Deleted member]

Amaroo, for the record, I have no financial interest whatsoever in the Colombian tourism industry

But I do feel for people who get an extra kick in the guts for no reason.

And I would never walk down George Street - feel much safer in Colombia

To help allay any fears some have, it might help if you explained what you actually do in Colombia.
I'm sure for example I would be more interested in Princess Fiona, shrek, Drross or Drron (sorry if I left anyone out here) had to say on matters medical in Australia, irrespective of who else lives there .
PS I really want to visit your part of the world, I'm particularly interested in Ecuador.