People who got infected by the Zika virus would become immune from the arboviral disease that has already reached the Pacific region. Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, American Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga have reported cases of Zika virus transmission.<\/p>\n
This was according to state epedimiologist Dr. Paul White, MSc, PhD, who added that the virus does not stay in a person forever. \u201c[But] some recent evidence has found the virus in male semen for six months after infection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zika could also now be transmitted sexually aside from getting the virus after being bitten by a carrier mosquito. Medical experts advice persons who are known to be carriers of the virus to abstain from having sex, especially to women who are capable of bearing a child to prevent having the birth defect of microcephaly.<\/p>\n
The virus was known to cause microcephaly or a congenital condition of an abnormal smallness of the head that is linked with incomplete brain development. The virus became a worldwide concern when an outbreak took place in Brazil in May 2015.<\/p>\n
White, however, said persons who were infected would be immune. \u201cOnce you have been infected you will develop immunity. This should be life long.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that if a woman is infected now she should be protected and so if she gets pregnant latter on she should be safe,\u201d added White.<\/p>\n
He said, during last Friday\u2019s proclamation declaring October as Fight The Bite Awareness Month, that prevention remains the best way to fight the virus since there\u2019s no known cure, treatment, or vaccine against the Zika virus. \u201cIt is a community effort and prevention is the keyword here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must all be aware that mosquitoes\u2014especially those that pass on the Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses\u2014like to live around us and feed on us. They breed in water containers that surrounds us.\u201d<\/p>\n
White said people in the community should maintain clean surroundings since it had been raining in the last few days. \u201cSo there would be a lot of mosquitoes around us. It is absolutely essential that everybody work hard in keeping their yards clean and free of any standing water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must do this not just once a month or once a week but every two or three days<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck every materials you have in your backyard, children\u2019s toys, old tires, buckets you leave outside just empty it and keep it free of water. There\u2019s no water, no breeding ground for mosquitoes. No mosquitoes, no Zika.\u201d<\/p>\n
Symptoms<\/strong><\/p>\n White said the virus\u2019 incubation period inside a person is seven days after being bitten. \u201cIt can\u2019t be as long as two weeks. You\u2019ll get is the same symptoms when you are about to get sick. Generally you will unwell.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter two or three days it will progress and you may get joint pains. You\u2019re hands might swell up and you\u2019re fingers hurt when you clench your fist. You will also feel pain on upper joints. In Zika you will get pink or red eye or conjunctivitis.\u201d<\/p>\n Conjunctivitis, however, is common. \u201cSo it doesn\u2019t mean that every child has Zika, but it must have other symptoms as well. You will get rash on your body, little spots, slight fever, and pain in joints and hands.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe virus comes and go quickly so it is essential if you have it, you must see doctor. We need to know since our concern is for pregnant women. We need to screen them, take care of them, and must try to identify any potential birth defects [of their child].\u201d<\/p>\n Awareness month proclamation<\/strong><\/p>\n Acting governor Victor B. Hocog signed the proclamation declaring October as Fight The Bite! Awareness Month. He is hoping that the virus, which causes microcephaly to an unborn child, won\u2019t come to the CNMI.<\/p>\n Hocog, who just came back after a medical check up in Manila, Philippines, said that the day before he and his wife left the Philippines they heard in the news that there\u2019s now a case of Zika particularly in the island of Cebu.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why if you are traveling, you really need to fill out the travel declaration correctly with emphasis on your health situation. Either you are leaving or arriving. It\u2019s always sad to see a child born with defects,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Hocog said signing the proclamation is one way to start the government\u2019s awareness campaign to inform the community. \u201cAs leader, we should be mindful to ensure that we have preventive measures before it comes in to our island. I call all to be aware and mindful of their surrounding to reduce the risk of having mosquitoes with contacting the Zika virus.\u201d<\/p>\n Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther L. Muna said that the community should be united in preventing the virus from reaching the CNMI. \u201cIt is about partnership and prevention. Trying to just get together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe message is clear, it can be prevented. Just follow the things that you need to do like cleaning up your surroundings. We\u2019ve been fortunate but we don\u2019t know when it would reach us. We just need to be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People who got infected by the Zika virus would become immune from the arboviral disease…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,140,67,63],"class_list":["post-236723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-commonwealth-healthcare-corp","tag-people","tag-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}