Zika virus, mosquito, Brazil

Zika fever is mainly spread via the bite of mosquitoes of the Aedestype. It can also be potentially spread by sex and blood transfusions. Infections in pregnant women may also infect the baby and have been linked to miscarriage and microcephaly. Diagnosis is by testing the blood, urine, or saliva for the presence of Zika virus RNA when the person is sick.

Prevention involves decreasing mosquitos’ bites in areas where the disease occurs. Efforts include the use of insect repellent, covering much of the body with clothing, mosquito nets, and getting rid of standing water where mosquitoes reproduce. There is no effective vaccine. Health officials recommended that women in areas affected by outbreaks consider putting off pregnancy due to the2015–16 Zika outbreak and those pregnant women not travel to areas where outbreaks were occurring. While there is no specific treatment, paracetamol (acetaminophen) may help with the symptoms. Admission to hospital is rarely necessary.

The virus that causes the disease was first isolated in 1947. The first documented outbreak among people occurred in 2007 in the Federated States of Micronesia. As of January 2016, the disease was occurring in twenty regions of the Americas. It is also known to occur in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Due to an outbreak which started in Brazil in 2015, the World Health Organization declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in February 2016.

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1.      Via  (v) 通過

2.      Transfusions (v) 輸血

3.      miscarriage (v) 流產

4.      microcephaly (n) 小頭畸形

5.      Diagnosis (n) 診斷

6.      Urine (n) 尿

7.      Saliva (n) 唾液

8.      Repellent (n) 驅蚊

9.      Reproduce (v) 複製

10.  Vaccine (n) 疫苗

11.  paracetamol 撲熱息痛

12.  Acetaminophen對乙酰氨基酚