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Post by jenn314 on Feb 3, 2016 13:48:45 GMT -5
Anyone else following along with this one?
I'm going on a cruise in April to the Caribbean. We're going to islands with confirmed cases. And now it's confirmed to be sexually transmitted AND it wasn't present in the guy's blood, so they don't really know the time between getting it and passing it along (blood samples suggest about a week). My in-laws are paying for the cruise and already did the final payment, so we can't switch cruises or cancel without them losing all their money. This makes me very nervous.
If I'm this nervous, I can't imagine living in one of these areas.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 13:56:48 GMT -5
They're advising anyone pregnant or TTC to stay away - but otherwise it seems as though the effects on otherwise healthy adults is mild, correct?
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Post by jenn314 on Feb 3, 2016 14:02:37 GMT -5
They're advising anyone pregnant or TTC to stay away - but otherwise it seems as though the effects on otherwise healthy adults is mild, correct? Debatable. It *might* also be linked with Guillain-Barré.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 14:20:26 GMT -5
They're advising anyone pregnant or TTC to stay away - but otherwise it seems as though the effects on otherwise healthy adults is mild, correct? Debatable. It *might* also be linked with Guillain-Barré. Oh. I missed that part. (Haven't watched news in 2 days?) Last I heard it was pink eye and flu-like symptoms.
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Post by gingerlady on Feb 3, 2016 14:51:41 GMT -5
I've been following this story very closely, for both personal and professional reasons. It's a new virus and there are still a lot of unknowns so it's easy for the media (and the CDC for that matter) to overestimate the possible risks out of an abundance of caution. For non-pregnant women the virus is totally innocuous and I wouldn't be concerned about it at all - 80% of people who get infected won't have any symptoms at all. It's VERY mild for the people who do get symptoms. If I weren't pregnant I'd probably rather have Zika than the common cold. The link with paralysis (Guillain-Barre) is weak, and honestly that's an extremely rare side-effect of tons of viruses that we're exposed to every day so there's not really a good way of preventing it. Your chances of getting Guillain-Barre from any cause are exceedingly low, so personally I don't find that concerning.
For pregnant women, the link with microcephaly is at this point an unproven theory, though an entirely plausible one. It's all based on Epidemiologic data showing an increased rate of microcephaly concurrent with the viral outbreak, and our knowledge that other viruses that cross the placenta can cause microcephaly too. The virus that no one ever talks about much but has always worried me is CMV (cytomegalovirus) which is everywhere and we are all at risk of getting it. It's currently the most common infectious cause of microcephaly, intrauterine growth restriction, and hearing loss in newborns. I have a lot of patients with probable CMV-related problems. I don't mention that to scare anyone - your chances of having CMV-related problems are very, very low, but honestly they're higher than Zika virus unless you currently live in Brazil. Rubella (German measles) used to be a huge problem too, but that's more-or-less gone now thanks to vaccines. The good news about Zika is that it should be pretty easy to develop a vaccine for (it's very similar to yellow fever, which we have a vaccine against). I would not be surprised if in the next few years the vaccine will be offered to women of childbearing age who either live in or plan to travel to endemic areas. This will be particularly important if the virus spreads northward and affects the southeast U.S. (as it probably will).
Also, the experts think (and I agree with them) that exposure very early in pregnancy when the brain is first developing is probably the cause of the most severe cases of microcephaly. Personally, I would not travel to an endemic area at all if I were TTC or first trimester. I have considered it now (in second trimester) - we almost went to the Virgin Islands for our babymoon but decided against it in the end, in part because there were other places in the continental U.S. that we wanted to visit just as much. But if I were close to term I wouldn't worry about it at all, and I certainly wouldn't worry if I weren't pregnant.
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Post by snippet17 on Feb 3, 2016 15:11:59 GMT -5
I agree. Use Deet everywhere you go. And the advisories seems to be only for ttc or pregnant women. I haven't heard of any for women that are bf or for small children. And gingerlady is very smart about this stuff. Listen to everything she says.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 15:19:43 GMT -5
I've been following this story very closely, for both personal and professional reasons. It's a new virus and there are still a lot of unknowns so it's easy for the media (and the CDC for that matter) to overestimate the possible risks out of an abundance of caution. For non-pregnant women the virus is totally innocuous and I wouldn't be concerned about it at all - 80% of people who get infected won't have any symptoms at all. It's VERY mild for the people who do get symptoms. If I weren't pregnant I'd probably rather have Zika than the common cold. The link with paralysis (Guillain-Barre) is weak, and honestly that's an extremely rare side-effect of tons of viruses that we're exposed to every day so there's not really a good way of preventing it. Your chances of getting Guillain-Barre from any cause are exceedingly low, so personally I don't find that concerning. For pregnant women, the link with microcephaly is at this point an unproven theory, though an entirely plausible one. It's all based on Epidemiologic data showing an increased rate of microcephaly concurrent with the viral outbreak, and our knowledge that other viruses that cross the placenta can cause microcephaly too. The virus that no one ever talks about much but has always worried me is CMV (cytomegalovirus) which is everywhere and we are all at risk of getting it. It's currently the most common infectious cause of microcephaly, intrauterine growth restriction, and hearing loss in newborns. I have a lot of patients with probable CMV-related problems. I don't mention that to scare anyone - your chances of having CMV-related problems are very, very low, but honestly they're higher than Zika virus unless you currently live in Brazil. Rubella (German measles) used to be a huge problem too, but that's more-or-less gone now thanks to vaccines. The good news about Zika is that it should be pretty easy to develop a vaccine for (it's very similar to yellow fever, which we have a vaccine against). I would not be surprised if in the next few years the vaccine will be offered to women of childbearing age who either live in or plan to travel to endemic areas. This will be particularly important if the virus spreads northward and affects the southeast U.S. (as it probably will). Also, the experts think (and I agree with them) that exposure very early in pregnancy when the brain is first developing is probably the cause of the most severe cases of microcephaly. Personally, I would not travel to an endemic area at all if I were TTC or first trimester. I have considered it now (in second trimester) - we almost went to the Virgin Islands for our babymoon but decided against it in the end, in part because there were other places in the continental U.S. that we wanted to visit just as much. But if I were close to term I wouldn't worry about it at all, and I certainly wouldn't worry if I weren't pregnant. Thank you for your insight
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Post by jenn314 on Feb 3, 2016 15:29:15 GMT -5
Thanks gingerlady! I think for me it's scary because we were planning on pulling the goalie during our cruise, so now that's on hold.
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Post by gingerlady on Feb 3, 2016 15:47:21 GMT -5
Also, regarding insect repellents: I'm a recent convert to picaridin, which is a relatively new repellent that is less toxic than DEET but studies have shown it is just as good at repelling mosquitoes and ticks. I've used it a lot in the past year and have found it is very effective (we love to travel to buggy places, and ticks are a HUGE problem in New England). It also doesn't have the nasty smell that DEET has.
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Post by jenn314 on Mar 12, 2016 12:50:25 GMT -5
Rage. H said something to BIL about monitoring the Zika virus situation. BIL was asked to keep it to himself. Naturally he told MIL who told FIL who now is talking about canceling our cruise. I see my doctor Friday and they don't want to wait! I'm beyond pissed that someone who is not me or my husband is trying to make reproductive decisions for me. Oh and the kicker is that MIL and FIL would still go. They'd just cancel us. Rage.
If they go through with it after both H and I asked them not to until I could speak with my doctor, then we're going to book ourselves a last minute cruise because I want my vacation damn it!
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Post by snippet17 on Mar 12, 2016 13:47:47 GMT -5
I would be pissed about that too jenn314
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