8 important facts about Zika virus

Recently you can hear a lot about Zika virus which mainly endangers pregnant women and their fetuses, causing malformations. The virus is spreading especially in South America, but WHO has introduced global emergency and alert, divany.hu wrote.

What does the Zika virus actually cause?

The virus infection may cause heat rise or not too high fever and rash. Sometimes, people feel muscle pain, joint pain, headache and conjunctivitis. In general, it is self-healing, and no death was reported so far.

However, Zika can cause malformations in unborn babies. One of these disorders is microcephaly.

What is microcephaly?

Microcephaly is a malformation which can be hereditary or can be caused by many intra-uterine diseases, not just by Zika. In this case, the fetus’ and the baby’s skull and brain do not grow at a satisfactory rate. Several neurological dysfunctions can occur, and intellectual disability is common too.

Can I catch it if Brazilians sit next to me on the tram?

No, Zika virus does not spread by droplet infection or a handshake, but by Aedes mosquitoes. You can catch it by the bite of an infected mosquito. In addition, the virus spreads by blood transfusion and sexual contact as well, divany.hu wrote.