If you’re a woman or a couple trying to get pregnant, you should avoid visiting the Caribbean, Latin America and perhaps some other tropical places for a while, and there are a few other things you could do to avoid the Zika virus.
From left: Jim Cameron, who moderated the discussion and asked questions, Dr. Caleb Moore, a physician and health advisor to Darien Health Department, and town Health Director David Knauf
And if you’re a woman who has a chance of becoming pregnant, avoid having sex with men who have been to those areas in the previous six months or so, advise two Darien Health Department officials who recently lent their expertise to the public in a presentation at Darien Library. (You can see a video of the discussion here and at the bottom of this article.)
For a woman who’s been to the Caribbean, Latin America or Tropics, wait a month before having sex with the possibility of getting pregnant, advised Dr. Caleb Moore, a physician in Stamford who is also the Health Department’s medical advisor. The reason this time period is shorter than for men: The virus, even if a woman does have it, doesn’t stay in women longer than that.
But it can stay in different types of bodily fluids for different periods of time, and it might stay as long as six months in sperm, Moore said. “A man could have the virus and not know he’s spreading it.”
If you can’t get pregnant or won’t, and if you’re not going to have sex with someone who may, then the Zika virus is such a mild illness that 80 percent of those who have it, it’s estimated, don’t even know, Moore said.
The horrific problem with Zika is that a larger number of babies born to women who already have the virus have developed microcephaly — stunted growth of the brain and head. That condition is irreversable and significantly stunts the development of a child, he said.
Roughly 1 to 3 percent of pregnant women with Zika go on to have microcephalic babies, although all statistics regarding the virus are suspect because it’s extremely difficult to tell who actually has it — with many people having no symptoms, many with the virus never get tested, Moore said.
There are no known cases of anyone getting the virus from a mosquito within the United States (other than Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands), but there is a mosquito in this corner of Connecticut that is capable of carrying the virus — the Asian Tiger Mosquito, said David Knauf, director of the town Health Department.
The Asian Tiger Mosquito “isn’t found in high numbers here, but it’s here, and it wasn’t 10 years ago,” Knauf said.
The good news about health problems from mosquitos in this area, Knauf said, is that the bugs that breed in natural swamps in the area don’t tend to carry dangerous viruses — the ones that breed in man-made spots where water is still are the mosquitos to worry about, to the extent that you’re worried.
So you can take two steps to cut back on the risk that you or a family member might get bitten, Knauf said.
First, “use your standard protections when it comes to mosquitos,” including using insect repellent and being careful around dusk and dawn when mosquitos can be more prevelant — if you are out at those times, consider wearing more clothing.
DEET is a very potent spray, and there have been studies indicating that it could be a concern for children, but “in small amounts, in moderation, likely it’s fine,” Moore said.
“But I would not restrict your activities or your travel based on what we know so far,” Knauf said.
The second thing to do is to keep mosquitos from breeding on your property: For instance, unclog your gutters, where leaves stopping up the drain pipes can create standing water.
Don’t let standing water gather in containers like cans or flower pots, and examine pool covers, boat covers, even birdbaths that have still water or fountains that aren’t running — “anywhere where there’s stagnanant water […] Take an inventory of your property,” Knauf suggested
“Look at your neighbors’ [property],” he said. “If standing water is there, help them. Some people can have difficulties and not be able to take care of their property.”
Future promise, possible nightmare scenarios
One of the worst things about viruses, Moore said, is that it’s possible for them to mutate — and develop characteristics that make them more likely to infect people. Influenza is an example of that.
It’s also possible that someone infected with Zika and carrying the virus in their blood (for that period of a month or so) could get bitten by a local Asian Tiger Mosquito that could later bite somebody else, spreading the virus. So far, the 300 or so known cases of the virus in the United States are all thought to have been the result of someone getting the virus in some land to the south, not in this country.
With people in wealthier countries in danger of getting the virus, there’s an incentive for drug companies to actively seek new drugs to prevent people from getting the virus or even cure it — but that research takes a while, Knauf said.
Some good news about the virus is in Uganda, where some of the first known cases of it were found in the 1950s (Zika is named after a forest in Uganda), Moore said. Cases of microcephaly are not especially prevalent there, and the reason may be that once you get bitten, you become immune, he said.
Children who get bitten can become immune well before they ever grow up and become pregnant or (for males) become fathers, Moore said.
This article is a summary. The presentation last week at Darien Library covered the subject in more detail. You can see the entire presentation on video here: