While Florida has 58 confirmed cases of Zika — more than any other state — local physicians say pregnant women probably shouldn't worry about contracting the virus that has exhibited a strong connection to the birth defect microcephaly, according to The Florida Times-Union.
"I don't think that we will have as much of a problem that countries in Central and South America have because we do a better job at mosquito control," Karen Harris, MD, Gainesville-based physician and chair of District XII of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in the Times-Union. In response to increased concern among her patients, Dr. Harris provides every pregnant patient with CDC guidelines on mosquito bite prevention during pregnancy.
Four of the Zika cases in Florida involve pregnant women. Currently, all U.S. Zika cases are the result of people traveling to areas in the South America, the Caribbean, some Pacific Islands and Central America where the virus has become rampant.
According to the Times-Union, Mobeen H. Rathore, MD, co-chair of the Baptist Health infection prevention and control committee and chief of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, believes a Zika outbreak in the states is plausible in the U.S. because the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the virus have been discovered in 32 states, including Florida. But, like Dr. Harris, Dr. Rathore believes that superior mosquito control, living conditions and healthcare systems will prevent a domestic Zika outbreak comparable to what is happening abroad.
In addition to microcephaly, Zika has exhibited a connection to other neurologically debilitating conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, paralysis and deadly inflammation of the brain.
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