Immunity to Zika still low: official

Vietnam may see more Zika cases because community immunity to the mosquito-borne Zika virus is still low, particularly in central, southern and Central Highland provinces (Photo: nld.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam may see more Zika cases because community immunity
to the mosquito-borne Zika virus is still low, particularly in central,
southern and Central Highland provinces.

Deputy Director of the health ministry’s Diseases Control Division Nguyen Duc Khoa
made the warning at a talk held on the Government’s e-portal chinhphu.vn on November 24.

He said that as of November 21, Zika had been found in seven provinces and
cities, namely Binh Duong, Long An, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa
and HCM City.

So far, Zika was found mostly in localities with temperatures of 20-30 degrees
Celsius, which aids the development of the mosquitoes which carry the virus
causing Zika.

Meanwhile, HCM City’s Preventive Medicine Centre diagnosed nine more Zika
patients by November 25, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 74
and total number of cases in the country to 83.

Dr Tran Danh Cuong, deputy director of the Central Obstetrics Hospital, said
that is dangerous for pregnant women and about 3-12 percent of babies with
Zika-infected mothers suffered from , in which babies are born with
abnormally small heads and restricted brain development.

He said that there is no medicine to treat the disease and no vaccine to
prevent it.

Pregnant women living in or travelling to areas with Zika should go to hospital
for Zika tests, Cuong said, adding that doctors could detect microcephaly from
the 18th week of
pregnancy.

Women who were suspected to have Zika during their first three months of
pregnancy could receive free Zika tests at healthcare centres, he said.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organisation declared that the
mosquito-borne Zika virus will no longer be treated as an international medical
emergency. However, by lifting its nine-month-old declaration, the UN’s health
agency is acknowledging that Zika is here to stay.

The move is not a demotion of the disease, Pete Salama, executive director of
WHO’s health emergencies programme, told a press conference.

“We are not downgrading the importance of Zika. By placing it as a longer-term
programme of work, we are saying Zika is here to stay and the WHO’s response is
here to stay.”-VNA