Childhood's end for the WORLD ? ZIka Virus spread is alarming

[cbelt3]

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/

"In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. The outbreak in Brazil led to reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes.

In response, CDC has issued a travel alert (Level 2-Practice Enhanced Precautions) for people traveling to regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood%27s_End

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men

[raz]

To the best of my knowledge a causal relationship between Zika and birth defects has not been proven.

[$tevie]

This is certainly serious but some people are trying to make it sound worse than it is. The number of people who died from it is minimal. The issue is mostly with pregnant women getting the illness because of the terrible effects upon their babies. I wish the media wouldn't try to scare the Bejeesus out of people by running scary headlines with sketchy "facts".

With microcephaly cases in Brazil surging from less than 200 a year to more than 4,000 since October, it's probably smart for pregnant women to take care. But we shouldn't get nutso about this.

[Speedy]

$tevie wrote: With microcephaly cases in Brazil surging from less than 200 a year to more than 4,000 since October, it's probably smart for pregnant women to take care. But we shouldn't get nutso about this.

This statistic alone is enough to get nutso about this spreading virus.

[cbelt3]

raz wrote:
To the best of my knowledge a causal relationship between Zika and birth defects has not been proven.

Yes. Still alarming. HOWEVER...IMHO, the use of fear to push good health practices isn't necessarily a bad thing.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/zika/en/

"During large outbreaks in French Polynesia and Brazil in 2013 and 2015 respectively, national health authorities reported potential neurological and auto-immune complications of Zika virus disease. Recently in Brazil, local health authorities have observed an increase in Zika virus infections in the general public as well as an increase in babies born with microcephaly in northeast Brazil. Agencies investigating the Zika outbreaks are finding an increasing body of evidence about the link between Zika virus and microcephaly. However, more investigation is needed before we understand the relationship between microcephaly in babies and the Zika virus. Other potential causes are also being investigated."

[Marc Anthony]

$tevie wrote:
This is certainly serious but some people are trying to make it sound worse than it is...I wish the media wouldn't try to scare the Bejeesus out of people by running scary headlines with sketchy "facts"...

When the Brazilian government tells citizens to stop having children for the next two years and the World Health Organization says the spread is "explosive", it's not good. Fears of epidemic—at least in Latin American countries—are not unfounded. Evidence indicates that there are a few vector-borne diseases that are set to become international health problems that may even come to the U.S., partly related to climate change. These include Zika, Yellow Fever, and Chagas.

[macphanatic]

Zika is the 2016 Ebola.

[Article Accelerator]

raz wrote:
To the best of my knowledge a causal relationship between Zika and birth defects has not been proven.

I'm all for scientific rigor but that may be a bit too far, raz…

[raz]

Article Accelerator wrote:
[quote=raz]
To the best of my knowledge a causal relationship between Zika and birth defects has not been proven.

I'm all for scientific rigor but that may be a bit too far, raz…
I was attempting to lower the panic level until the data is in. Certainly, we have a temporal correlation. And, that should indicate a bit of caution. But "Childhood's End"? We're getting way ahead of ourselves.

I must try to be more verbose in my posts. Sorry.

[Janit]

raz wrote:
[quote=Article Accelerator]
[quote=raz]
To the best of my knowledge a causal relationship between Zika and birth defects has not been proven.

I'm all for scientific rigor but that may be a bit too far, raz…
I was attempting to lower the panic level until the data is in. Certainly, we have a temporal correlation. And, that should indicate a bit of caution. But "Childhood's End"? We're getting way ahead of ourselves.

I must try to be more verbose in my posts. Sorry.
Managing the correct level of "panic" is always a challenge. The Ebola outbreak was dramatically worse than it should have been because people were slow to take it seriously.