Zika outbreak: Pakistani travellers advised to put off trying for a baby during travel

Dr Durrani says international travelling is the easiest means of getting affected by or spreading a disease

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan prepares a comprehensive strategy to fight against Zika virus, epidemiologist Dr Muhammad Najeeb Durrani has warned couples travelling to Zika affected countries to strictly avoid getting pregnant during their stay over there.

"International travelling is the easiest means of getting affected by or spreading a disease," Dr Durrani told The Express Tribune.



Dr Durrani, a renowned member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), said that the virus is known to have been circulated in Africa, United States, Asia and the Pacific Island.

Recently a high-level meeting of senior health officials, including Federal Secretary Health Muhammad Ayub Sheikh, ministry of national health services, regulations and coordination discussed various methods to face the threat posed by Zika virus in Pakistan.

"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has assured to provide Pakistan with laboratory kits to test the Zika infection, along with technical assistance to train health officials.

"To reduce the risk of being infected with Zika virus, people should use insect repellent, cover as much of their bodies as possible with long, light coloured clothing," the epidemiologist said.

"Cover water containers to avoid giving mosquitoes a place to breed," he added while stating that these measures must also be adopted to prevent Dengue.



Dr Durrani  went on to say, “The most common symptoms of Zika virus diseases are fever, rashes, joint pains and conjunctivitis [red eyes]. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for a week to several days. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika.”

WHO has declared the mosquito-borne virus an international public health emergency due to its link to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, as the UN agency seeks to build a global response to the threat. WHO officials are unsure that the virus causes microcephaly.

Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The same mosquito also transmits three other vector-borne diseases – Dengue, Chikungunya and Yellow Fever across tropical and subtropical regions in the world.

Diagnosis can only be done through a laboratory testing for the presence of the virus in the blood or other body fluids, such as urine or saliva.



The virus is relatively mild and requires no specific treatment. Those affected by Zika should get plenty of rest, drink enough fluids and treat pain and fever with common medicines. If symptoms worsen, they should seek medical care and advice.