: Brazilian Women Are Asked to Postpone Pregnancy


01/25/2016

Outbreak of an infectious disease, which is believed to cause children to be born with abnormally small heads, forced the governments of Latin America to advise women not to get pregnant until all the circumstances are clear.



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"We would advise all women of childbearing age to take steps to plan their pregnancy, and to avoid pregnancy in this and next year," - this advice sounded from Deputy Minister of Health of El Salvador Eduardo Espinoza. It was, perhaps, the most radical measure in Latin America covered by the new disease, one of the consequences of which could, according to some, be birth of children with abnormally small heads.

As far as we know, this is the result of infection of Zika virus, which in some cases can affect the fetus in the womb.

The virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, is fast spreading in the Western Hemisphere, and some experts are already talking about start of the pandemic spread.

As a result, authorities in many countries are calling for women to abstain from conception.

In Jamaica, for example, women are advised to avoid having children for the next six months.

Minister of Health of Jamaica Horace Dalley says there is no doubt that the virus will soon reach the island, as it has already been found in Haiti.

Many women may not know that they were infected with the virus Zika as the symptoms of the disease appear only in 20% of cases.

According to doctors, detecting defects in development of the fetus body parts is possible, and most mothers may know about the problem until birth, when it turns out that the head circumference is less than 33 centimeters.

Although it is not official policy of the Ministry of Health of Brazil, head of surveillance of communicable diseases Claudio Maierovitch said that women living in areas where Zika fever is common should be avoiding pregnancy unless the problem is solved.

Later, Maierovitch retracted his words, and a statement of the Ministry of Health says only that women should discuss the risks with their doctors.  

source: bbc.co.uk