Zika Virus
Introduction
Imagine going on the trip of a lifetime to South America with your family. You’re ecstatic to be traveling to the different cities and hiking through the beautiful rainforests, encountering all the unique flora and fauna to be found there. Sure you get bit by bugs and mosquitos but it’s a mosquito how much damage can it do? Besides, it’s worth it. Your trip ends and you get back to the States feeling achy in your joints and muscles and you have a little bit of a headache, but you write it off as jetlag so you take aspirin and move about your life. All of sudden you break out in rashes and you get a fever along with conjunctivitis in your eyes, you’re wondering what this could all be and then remember something you saw on the news the other day about mosquitos and the spread of an old virus called Zika.
They said that it was more concentrated in South American countries and less urban areas and to be cautious if traveling there. Being spread by mosquitos who had already come in contact with the infected persons blood (CDC, 2017). For most people the symptoms will be flu-like and treatable, but the risk is really with the pregnant women and your heart drops because you realize that is you. Now there is a fear and uncertainty that sets in you, wondering if your baby will be born with defects and if it will ever be able to live a normal life.
History
The Zika virus was first discovered in the Zika Forest of Uganda during Rockefeller’s research over the cycle of the yellow fever virus and how it regularly effects animals in a particular area and to find other arboviruses. The virus was first seen in 1947 after a fever developed in a Rhesus Monkey when after running blood samples it was revealed as unknown and as the scientists’ protocol dictated, the virus was named after the forest in which it was found, Zika. When first discovered it was believed that the virus could only infect monkeys
severely. It never really threatened the people of Uganda, therefore no one was interested in making a vaccine, because it didn’t really cause severe symptoms. Marilyn Parsons from the CID research said, “It was hard to quantify how much Zika infection there was and its impact, since its symptoms are quite similar to other viruses varied by the Aedes mosquitos” (CNN). No one quite knows how long the virus has been around, because studies have shown immunity in people in Africa and Asia.
Researches raised the alarms in 2007 when the first large outbreak was reported in Micronesia. They believe that the virus had mutated from the original strain found in Uganda with increased virulence. The virus then circulated through the Pacific islands before hitting South America in 2015. Along with causing severe flu-like symptoms it was discovered that now it had a correlation between microcephaly in newborn babies as well as other serious conditions.
Zikas overall effect on our nation has been quite severe in the past few years due to the large amounts of people traveling to the countries with the most reported cases and coming back with fear of spreading it to others or having babies born with defects. It has made research in the nation speed up to find a vaccine to stop its spread from mother to baby or from person to person as it has recently been discovered that it can now be contracted sexually. People are more cautious about where they travel to today and what they come in contact with. Worldly we are all at risk at contracting the virus, although it is more like a really bad flu the more concerning thing that researchers worry about is the fact that it can cause birth defects in children and when that happens our population evolutionary speaking will be thinned out.
Descriptive Examples
Vanessa Oliveira is a mother living in Brazil and she talks about her experience with Zika fto a reporter for the “Independent” and how women around the Brazil have joined together to form a support group for each other. Oliveira talks about how she was never informed about how Zika could affect her pregnancy and how it could affect her child. She contracted the virus four months into her pregnancy. “Nobody had a clue at the time that the red rash on my skin and itching would have such devastating consequences”, (Independent). She shared her frustrations about how closely she was monitored her entire pregnancy due to pre-eclampsia but no doctor saw the changes in her baby’s development her little girl has suffered from stunted head growth from the virus.
For another woman Thias Battistot, the birth of her child left her crying for weeks because of the developmental defects of her child. “At first I thought Emanuelle was just a tiny baby but I noticed she wasn’t developing like my nephew of the same age,” she said. “At four months she couldn’t sit down properly and was very floppy and didn’t move around a lot”, (Independent). Although her condition is not seen in the circumference of the head the condition has affected her coordination and neural skills.
After going through a rollercoaster of emotions, pointing blame, feeling sadness and anger, they realized that none of that matters now because their babies needed them and they were going to fight to get what was best for their children.
Solutions
Although there are currently no vaccines to prevent or even any medications to treat Zika, the best thing travelers and locals can do is prevent mosquito bites. According to the “Solutions Designed for Healthcare” website, people can cover their exposed skin by wearing light colored, long sleeved shirts and long pants. Use approved insect repellents that contain things like chemical repellents, and oil of lemon eucalyptus.
People who live where a large population of mosquitos reside can reduce the breeding areas for them by removing any standing water around and in houses and yards. One can also keep mosquitos out of the house by using screen protectors on the door and on windows and by creating an air current through air conditioning, it will be strong enough to keep mosquitos from flying in.
Not only can Zika be spread through mosquitos it can be spread sexually as well. Being able to spread through sex makes it more dangerous than most viruses because people won’t think that they have it and they will spread it unknowingly. By spreading it without knowing it could possibly hurt the chances of a woman trying to get pregnant, because zika virus is known to cause microcephaly in unborn babies. “The timeframes that men and women can pass Zika through sex are different because Zika virus can stay in semen longer than in other body fluids (CDC, Zika Virus Prevention).” More people need to become aware of the dangers and the realities of sexual transmission of this virus and the dangers it holds. Using protection such as condoms for men and women, as well as not sharing any toys with a partner can help reduce the risk of spreading it to others.
According to “MIT Technology Review”, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is saying that she has a whole arsenal to fight off the mosquitos. “She will dispatch over 200,000 troops throughout Brazil to enact tried and tested methods of combatting mosquito populations. That includes spraying insecticides, eliminating pools of standing water, and educating the public (MIT Tech Review).” In 1942 Brazil took on a similar campaign to take care of the yellow fever spreading across the country. Many countries joined in the response and by 1962, Brazil and 17 other countries were free of the mosquitos.
Other technological solutions include using cellphone trackers to see where there are diseased hotspots and predict where they may flare up next. “The technique had already been employed in Africa in the battle against malaria and in Pakistan against dengue fever-both mosquito-borne diseases like Zika (MIT Tech Review).”
Scientists have also been able to create genetically modified mosquitos which can “crash” local populations, but doing it on a larger scale for a country like Brazil would require a lot more thinking and generating, rather than just doing it in local neighborhoods.
The last real solution that could work would be a gene drive which is basically inserting genes into an organism in a way that it spreads through the whole population (MIT Tech Review). Meaning that by doing a gene drive it would stop the mosquitos from being able to carry Zika or destroy the entire species. A gene drive has been done before, but some researchers worry about it impeding on natural selection and what consequences may come of trying to fix a naturally occurring problem.
Camus and Absurdity
I think that Zika virus does relate to Camus’ beliefs in the sense that it is a naturally occurring phenomenon and that there isn’t any real explanation to why it came to be or why it has to affect us the way it does. I think he would agree that it is irrational and absurd that mosquitos, insects that have no real purpose other than to spread disease, would be doing this to people indirectly. There is no way to get around the virus as of today because we have not, as a society, come up with a cure or an answer. So, we will just live our days contracting or not contracting this disease, dying or living, having babies born healthy or not, because we can do nothing else.
Conclusion
Zika virus deserves to be brought to light and taught about to the public, because all our world travelers, doctors, family members, loved ones, need to know about it and need to know how to prevent it. Although it is only flu-like for most people, for women who are trying to start
a family it could truly devastate them. No expectant mother wants to have their child born with a deformity, or feel like it is their fault as to why they were born that way. By becoming educated we as a society can help prevent the spread of it and possibly even help find a cure. We still don’t fully know the repercussions of this virus so we must be cautious and aware of what we are doing and work to keep ourselves healthy every day. Even though there aren’t any vaccines or treatments, there are preventions and researchers are working every day to find a cure that will stick and that will keep us safe from yet another mosquito-borne virus.Works Cited:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 04 Jan.
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"Zika Virus: History, Emergence, Biology, and Prospects for Control." Zika Virus: History,
Emergence, Biology, and Prospects for Control. N.p., June 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
"Zika Virus – an Overview." Zika Virus – an Overview. N.p., May 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
McKenzie, Brent Swails and David. "Zika Virus Birthplace: Uganda's Zika Forest." CNN. Cable News Network, 03 Feb. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
Coelho, Janet Tappin. "Zika Virus: Mothers Tell Their Stories - 'The Legacy Will Shame Brazil for Years to Come'." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 29 Jan
. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
"Zika Virus." Solutions Designed For Healthcare | Diversey Care. N.p., 30 Jan. 2016. Web. 03
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"Zika Virus." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Zika Virus Prevention, 02 May 2017. Web. 03 May 2017.
Reilly, Michael. "The Growing Arsenal of Techniques for Fighting Zika Virus." MIT Technology
Review. MIT Technology Review, 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 May 2017.
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