A national team has arrived in Trivandrum, as Zika is a new disease in Kerala and they are not equipped with much experience in handling it. 7 experts are in the team, as mentioned by the district medical officer KS Shinu, according to a tweet by ANI.
ZIka is a new disease in Kerala and we don't have much experience in handling it. A national team has arrived in Trivandrum. There are 7 experts in the team. Zika is a communicable disease: District Medical Officer KS Shinu pic.twitter.com/NOiZjNZ3VC
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2021
With the Union Health ministry rushing a six-member team to assist the state, concerns have been sparked by the spread of Zika virus cases in Kerala. Including a pregnant woman from Thiruvananthapuram who was diagnosed on Thursday, so far the state has reported 18 cases of the virus, as mentioned in a report released by The Print.
Spreading predominantly through the bite of an Aedes mosquito, the Zika virus is a mosquito-borne disease that can also be sexually transmitted. In 1947, the Zika virus was first identified in monkeys, as per the World Health Organisation. In humans, the virus was later identified in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania in 1952. In the Federated States of Micronesia, a sudden rise in the number of cases of the disease had occurred in 2007.
Including fever, rash, joint pain, muscle pain, and chills, it takes 3 to 14 days for the symptoms to develop. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once a person has been infected with the virus they are likely to be protected from future infections. However, pregnant women can transmit the disease to the fetus and a condition called microcephaly among newborns could be caused by the virus. This is a defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected in comparison to other children of the same age.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has named six vaccines that are currently being developed and are at different stages of their trials. These consist of an mRNA, live attenuated, and a purified, inactivated virus vaccine.