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ZIKA

Danish hospital reports nation’s first Zika virus case

A Danish tourist who had been in South and Central America has been confirmed to carry the zika virus, one of only a handful of reported cases in Europe.

Published: 27 January 2016 08:24 CET
Danish hospital reports nation's first Zika virus case
The Aedes Aegypti mosquito transmits the Zika virus. Photo: LUIS ROBAYO/Scanpix
The mosquito-borne Zika virus is feared to be connected to a birth disorder that results in babies being born with severely undersized heads, causing major development issues and even death. 
 
The infected Dane, however, is a young male. 
 
“It is a younger man, so it’s naturally not someone who is at risk of having problems with his foetus,” Lars Østergaard, the head of the Aarhus University Hospital’s infectious medicines department, told broadcaster DR. 
 
There has been a major breakout of the Zika virus in Latin America, with 4,000 cases reported in Brazil alone since November. The virus is now being reported throughout Central and South America and has also travelled to the United States via infected tourists. 
 
According to the World Health Organization, the virus is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas except Canada and Chile.
 
Britain has also reported a handful of cases in travellers returning from South America.
 
The Danish man came in to Aarhus University Hospital complaining of flu-like symptoms and tests carried out on Tuesday evening confirmed he was carrying the virus. He was in overall good health and was discharged from the hospital. 
 
Østergaard said that because the Aedes mosquito that carries the virus isn’t found in Denmark, there is no major risk that Zika will spread. There have been however, two individual cases in which the virus was spread through sexual contact. 

ZIKA

First pregnant woman in Austria tests positive for Zika

A pregnant woman from Salzburg was diagnosed with the Zika virus this May, following her return from a vacation in the Dominican Republic.

Published: 5 October 2016 08:57 CEST
First pregnant woman in Austria tests positive for Zika
Canwest News/Wikimedia
After coming back to Austria, the expectant mother came down with a fever, joint pain and also suffered a rash. Her reported symptoms were consistent with Zika’s onset, which has allegedly spread beyond the point of origin of its most recent outbreak in South and Central America. 
 
Confirmed by Austria’s Ministry of Health, their spokesman from the Department of Infectious Diseases, Bernhard Benka stated that the patient is currently under observation. The organization has reported 25 individual cases since the first was diagnosed in January of this year, yet this is the first which could affect an unborn child.
 
Infected pregnant women are most deeply affected by the virus due to its high risk of causing birth defects that are only detectable post-partum. The most severe effects cause the child to be born with a form of microcephaly, a syndrome denoted by an abnormally small skull, heavy cognitive impairment and other developmental issues. 
 
Of the 13 Austrian women and 12 Austrian men who came back from holiday in locations ranging from the Caribbean to southern Central America to Bali, all diagnosed national cases have so far been successfully treated. However, the ministry has warned that the virus is still spreadable as an STD and recommends that men who have visited any of the affected areas make sure to use protection for up to six months after their return.
 
Professor Dr. Herwig Kollaritisch from the Institute of Tropical Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna told Salzburger Nachrichten that the chances of a Zika epidemic occurring in Austria are slim. “This country doesn’t have any mosquitoes that would spread the virus.” Conditions for it to spread via sexual transmission are also too insufficient to cause concern.