Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

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. 

HEALTH

First baby in Europe with Zika defects born in Spain

A baby has been born in Spain with Zika-caused microcephaly, the first to be born in Europe with the condition.

Published: 25 July 2016 17:53 CEST
First baby in Europe with Zika defects born in Spain
The Zika virus is spread by mosquitos. Photo: Yuri Cortez/AFP
The child was born by caesarean section at the Vall D’Hebron hospital in Barcelona.
 
The hospital’s chief neonatal physician Felix Castillo confirmed that the baby had been born with a small head circumference, a typical symptom of the Zika virus.
 
The pregnancy had gone to term, the hospital confirmed.
 
The baby, which was born by Caesarean section at the end of pregnancy, “is stable and has not required any specific resuscitation,” Castillo stated. Obstetrician Elena Carreras said that the mother “had been accompanied by the father the whole time, and they are very excited and happy.”
 
This is Spain's first case of Zika-related microcephaly, a severe form of brain damage where babies are born with abnormally small heads. The mother had been infected with Zika and dengue during a trip to Latin America.
 
It is the first known case of its kind in Europe in a baby that has gone to term. Traces of Zika were found in the brain of an aborted foetus in Slovenia that had severe microcephaly.
 
“The anomalies were identified between the 19th and 20th weeks of pregnancy,” a Catalonia health official told reporters in June, confirming that the foetus had shown “several anomalies, including microcephaly”.
 
Authorities declined to identify the woman in order to protect her privacy, but local media said she had decided against an abortion.
   
“These symptoms cause serious difficulties, but do not usually lead to the death of the foetus,” said gynaecologist Elena Carreras.
 
A total of 105 people in Spain have been infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, according to official statistics from May 3.
 
Spanish authorities have said all the infection cases – including 13 pregnant women – are “imported cases” found in people either “from, or who have visited affected countries” in Latin America.
 
More than a fifth of foreign residents in Spain are of Latin American or Caribbean origin, the area hit by the epidemic.
 
The current Zika outbreak began in early 2015 in Brazil, where some 1.5 million infections have been reported. Since then, the epidemic has spread to several other countries in the Americas.
 
Scientists believe the virus to be responsible for a surge in Brazilian infants born with microcephaly.
 
There is no vaccine or treatment for the virus, which in most people causes only mild symptoms — a rash, joint pain or fever.
 
Despite a flurry of research, very little is known about Zika, including the full list of diseases and disorders it may cause.
 
Recent scientific consensus is that the virus causes microcephaly in babies and adult-onset neurological problems such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which can cause paralysis and death.