Zika: The Millennials’ S.T.D.? New York Times Aug 20
By KELLY MCBRIDE FOLKERS – working toward a master’s degree in bioethics.
Download the NYT PDF from Vitamin D Life
- “We need to think about this in terms of a new sexually transmitted disease, one that is especially hard to combat because 80 percent of infections don’t cause symptoms, and both men and women can carry the virus for months.”
- “One mathematical model has estimated that around 3 percent of Zika infections are from sex.”
Estimates of Basic reproduction number (R0) (how likely to infect another person)
| R0 | Virus | ||
| 1.3 | Seasonal influenza | ||
| 2 - 5 | H.I.V. | ||
| 3 – 6.6 | Zika in Columbia | ||
| 3 | Dengue (no sexual transmission) | ||
| 4 | SARS (not in NYT) | ||
| 1.5 - 2 | Ebola (not in NYT) | ||
Vitamin D Life has additional reasons to be concerned about ZIKA
- Zika infection lasts 5 times longer when some monkeys are pregnant – what about pregnant women – June 2016
- Zika causes brain problems in adult (mice) having poor immune systems– Nov 2016
- Your use of DEET probably INCREASES the spread of Zika – June 2016
- Zika model indicates 25 times more cases in US as had been reported to the CDC – Aug 2016
- The Zika Virus Mosquito Is so Dangerous the Military Considered Using It as a Weapon - July 2016
- Zika virus can be spread by animals, not just by humans – July 2016
See also web
- Preliminary estimation of the basic reproduction number of Zika virus infection during Colombia epidemic, 2015–2016 May 2016
R0 range 2.2 to 14.8 (agrees with assertion in NYT above)
Note: Columbia is a tropical (many mosquitoes), low-income (few screens and air conditioners) country
Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life - Sex May Spread Zika Virus More Often Than Researchers Suspected NYT July 2016
- "To adjust for doctor-visit differences, the team compared the current Zika outbreak to two outbreaks of dengue, which is not sexually transmitted."
- "Even after that adjustment, said Flavio C. Coelho, a Vargas Foundation biostatistician and the lead author, women were still 60 percent more likely than men to be infected with the Zika virus. Sexual transmission, he said, “was the most probable cause.”
Study = Sexual transmission causes a marked increase in the incidence of Zika in women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Dengue (same mosquito) in same city (Rio) did not have much increased infection for women (age-adjusted data)
2015 Total virus reporting in Rio
| Virus | Women | Men | Ratio |
| Zika | 20,315 | 8,986 | 1.88 |
| Dengue | 56, 449 | 46,305 | 1.19 |
- Conclusion: increased female Zika infection was due to sexual transmission
CDC: About 1% of the US Zika cases are due to sexual transmission - Aug 2016
Zika Virus Is Sexually Transmitted, CDC Says
CDC also states that the male can be infectious
- Before having symptoms
- For 6+ months after having symptoms
Would have been nice if Congress had given money to CDC to deal with Zika
They could have, for example, provided free
- Condoms for the males
- Chemicals to keep mosquitoes away from mane and women who are infectous
Permethrin-dipped clothing kills Zika mosquitoes even after 10 washings – Oct 2016
Mosquito repellent Picaridin is often better than DEET – Aug 2016