Experts in southern Kerala state of India have released an emergency throughout the state after the first case of the Zika Virus was confirmed, authorities said.
An additional 13 new suspected cases are also being investigated, state’s Health Minister Veena George said on Friday last week.
A 24-year-old pregnant lady was found to be tainted with the mosquito borne infection and was going through treatment at a clinic in Thiruvananthapuram city of Kerala.
Samples from the 13 suspected patients have been sent for additional investigation to a lab situated in Pune, the Kerala minister added in the statement.
The women who are expecting are particularly endangered and can pass-on the infection to their newborn babies which can result in life changing conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, which is a rare auto-immune disorder disease.
It can also be a source of birth defects such as microcephaly, which causes the babies to be born with a smaller head or undeveloped heads due to abnormalities in brain development.
Zika Virus is mostly transmitted or spread through the bite of the Aedes Genus mosquito but can also be sexually transmitted as well, as per the reports of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus was first found in the monkeys in Uganda’s Zika Forest in 1947 and was the source of many outbreaks across the world in recent decades.
No vaccines or any antiviral drugs are available as prevention or cure for this virus. The World Health Organization already declared it as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in the year 2016.
The symptoms of Zika are fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis and muscle and joint pain, but deaths are very rare as of now. Health teams have been appointed to the areas to monitor for any additional cases and trigger them.
Health authorities said that the infected woman in the Kerala state revealed the symptoms which included fever, headache and rashes before being admitted to the hospital, where she safely delivered a baby on wednesday last week.
India has also seen Zika’s outbreaks previously as well in the years 2017 and 2018, with around hundreds of cases reported in the western Gujarat and Rajasthan states and also as well as the central state of Madhya Pradesh have seen it, but the newest infection is the only first case in Kerala state.
The Kerala state is already battling with the surge in COVID-19 cases, with more than 13,000 infections reported as on Friday, more than almost the third of India’s 43,393 daily cases recorded on the one day. And now Zika has started spreading in the state now.
How To Prevent & Control Zika Virus:
Protection from mosquito bites during the day and early evening is an important measure to protect oneself from Zika infection contamination. Special consideration should be given to avoid mosquito chomps among pregnant ladies, ladies of contraceptive age, and little youngsters as well.
Personal assurance measures include wearing apparel (ideally light shaded) that covers however much of the body as could possibly be expected.
Utilizing physical barriers, for example, window screens and shut entryways and windows, doors as well; and applying bugs and insects repellent to skin or the dress that contains DEET, IR3535 or picaridin as indicated by the product mark directions.
Small kids and pregnant ladies should be under the mosquito nets for complete protection, if taking naps or resting during the day or early evening.
Persons who are travelling and those living in infected regions should take similar essential precautions as described above to shield themselves from mosquito bites.
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Aedes mosquitoes breed in little assortments of water around homes, schools, and work destinations. Kill these mosquito breeding sites, including: covering water stockpiling compartments, eliminating standing water in window boxes, and tidying up refuse and utilized tires.
Local area drives are crucial for helping nearby government and general wellbeing projects to lessen mosquito reproducing destinations. Wellbeing specialists may likewise educate us concerning larvicides and insect poisons to diminish mosquito populaces and illness spread.