Health News

Don’t panic over Zika

Experts say virus is unlikely to have big impact in New York

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Though the World Health Organization recently declared the Zika virus a global health emergency, residents of Long Island don’t have much to worry about — unless they plan to travel to affected areas.

The concern over the virus comes from new evidence linking it with birth defects, and specifically microcephaly, in which a baby’s head is smaller than it should be.

However, though the virus is a danger to pregnant women and those trying to become pregnant, its effects are relatively mild for everyone else. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only one in five people infected with Zika actually show symptoms, and those are minor: fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. Symptoms usually appear two to seven days after a bite by a mosquito carrying the virus.

Dr. Aaron Glatt, the chairman of medicine and the epidemiologist at South Nassau Communities Hospital, stressed that people shouldn’t worry too much about Zika, since mosquitoes are the main mode of transmission. “There will be cases, obviously, in the southwestern United States, more likely than in New York,” Glatt said. “It’s not coming to New York. Just like we don’t have malaria in New York. They might bring it back, but it won’t originate here.”

The mosquitoes that transmit Zika, he explained, are not native to New York, and are a different species than those found here.

There was a case in Texas in which Zika was transmitted sexually, but Glatt said that was a very rare occurrence. “I think the concerns of people who haven’t traveled [to infected areas] should be next to zero,” he said. “For people who aren’t pregnant, it’s a very mild disease, and they shouldn’t be concerned.” But pregnant women, he added, should reconsider traveling to infected areas.

Though the risk of encountering the virus is minimal, local hospitals are prepared to treat those who may become sick. “Catholic Healthy Services is prepared to handle any infectious disease issue that may present at any of its facilities,” said Dr. Patrick M. O’Shaughnessy, senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer at CHS, which is the parent company of Mercy Medical Center.“We have taken active steps to train staff on signs and symptoms, and recognize these threats as they present to either our emergency departments or office-based practices. Ebola virus disease had set that stage for our system’s state of readiness, and we apply those same concepts to any new threat, such as Zika virus.”

Some areas with active Zika transmission:

  • Puerto Rico
  • Virgin Islands
  • American Samoa
  • Brazil
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Jamaica
  • Mexico
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Venezuela