Eight cases of Zika virus have been reported in Dhaka over the past three months, as confirmed by Professor Tahmina Shirin, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR), in a statement to The Business Standard.
She said, the patients are now healthy. All the infected are residents of Dhaka.
According to the IEDCR, five Zika patients were identified in the country on 2023.
Renowned virologist Professor Dr. Nazrul Islam informed The Business Standard that the Zika virus poses a risk to unborn children if the mother is pregnant. He added that, since the virus can also be transmitted sexually, husbands may also be at risk, emphasizing the need for caution.
There is no alternative to killing mosquitoes to avoid all mosquito-borne diseases including Zika virus and dengue.
Both dengue and Zika are spread by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes, so more emphasis should be placed on killing mosquitoes, he added.
The Aedes mosquito-borne Zika virus was first identified in the country in 2014.
On 2023, the presence of the virus was found in sample tests at the IEDCR and International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) labs.
According to WHO, Zika virus is transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.
Most people with Zika virus infection do not develop symptoms; those who do typically show symptoms such as rash, fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headache that last for 2–7 days.
Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause infants to be born with microcephaly and other congenital malformations as well as preterm birth and miscarriage.
Zika virus infection is also associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, neuropathy and myelitis in adults and children.
In February 2016, WHO declared Zika-related microcephaly a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), and the causal link between the Zika virus and congenital malformations was confirmed. WHO declared the end of the PHEIC in November of the same year.
While global cases of Zika virus disease decreased after 2017, transmission continues at low levels in some countries across the Americas and other endemic areas.
Source: The Business Standard
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
