Zika risk minimal in Waynesburg
WAYNESBURG — The disease that is threatening the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil has reached the United States in small numbers but is enough of a concern for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to send out travel notices and alerts on how to deal with the disease.
Zika virus, which is a disease associated with a few symptoms and illness that lasts anywhere from two to 10 days, has not been as common as other widespread diseases in recent memory such as the H1N1 Virus, or swine flu, or chicken pox, but has become an issue with people traveling abroad into the Pan-American area and into South America.
Even though 35 cases have been reported in the United States as of Feb. 3, according to the CDC website, cdc.gov, it may not be a big worry locally, especially for college students and for female residents who are not pregnant – or planning to be pregnant – in the near future.
“There is no treatment or vaccine for the virus yet, but for college students it should not be much of a concern,” said Jennifer Shiring, nurse director of student health services at Waynesburg University. “If we have students from Waynesburg travel abroad, the CDC is just telling everyone to use mosquito precautions. But it’s not a disease that will hospitalize you; you just have to be careful. We want our students to be protected in general.”
Typically, mosquito-borne illnesses are most common at nighttime because most mosquitos are nighttime feeders; however, the mosquitos that carry the Zika virus are daytime biters, which, according to Shiring, makes it a lot more difficult to protect against.
The precautions the CDC is urging travelers to use include wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, have air conditioners when feasible, have screens on windows and use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved insect repellant.
According to the EPA website, epa.gov, an approved repellent specifies the insect it protects against, protection time, active ingredients and more.
This specific virus, according to cdc.gov, may not even make a person who contracts the virus ill as only one in five people who are infected show symptoms.
Symptoms include rash, fever, joint pain and red eyes but are not limited to those, and the symptoms usually only last a few days to a week in most cases, but other cases have lasted slightly longer.
Contractors rarely are hospitalized or die from the virus.
In the end, the virus only remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week but can be found slightly longer in rare cases.
“The main concern is for pregnant women. The CDC is actually urging pregnant women that don’t have to travel to infected areas, not to travel,” Shiring said. “The Zika virus can actually cause a birth defect that causes babies to be born with small heads and small brains, called microcephaly. So that is the big worry for people in Brazil and some other locations and what makes this virus such a threat because of the spike in occurrences of the birth defect.”
There is an infectious disease policy at Waynesburg University, according to Shiring, that, to her knowledge, has only had to be used twice, once during her time at the university and once before she arrived on campus.
“This one specifically is not something that could rapidly spread through campus like the flu or chicken pox,” Shiring said. “When this kind of thing comes up, we consult the local department of health and administration on how to proceed. We can send out a letter to students or really any other thing we decide as a group.
“It is a public health concern because of the birth defects, but it’s not as bad as it sounds in most cases,” she added. “The problem is its just so new and there is still a ton of research to be done and that is being done. Our biggest concern at this point is protecting our students who are traveling to infected areas and making them aware of how to do so.”
According to Shiring, the Zika v irus is something to be aware of, but not afraid of.
Symptoms could be no worse in some cases than the common flu, but the end ramifications could be worse if not treated with proper rest, fluids, aspirin or detection of the virus.
In the end, Shiring said, “people just need to be careful.”