Daniel Salas, director of Health Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, recognized that zika will be hard to eradicate, after confirming the first case of a baby with microcephaly associated with the virus and another, who has a congenital infection as a result of the virus.
Both girls were born in Limón and like them, another seven babies were confirmed with microcephaly and another 5 were considered as “probable cases”, that is, there is not enough evidence to confirm the disease but they will remain under study.
So far in 2018, the Ministry of Health confirmed 13 cases of people with zika, two of them being pregnant women, the most vulnerable population.
On February 22nd, 2016, the first local case of a woman 38-weeks pregnant and with the virus was confirmed. The disease generates symptoms such as mild fever, red skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, and headaches, which usually last between two and seven days.
In November of that same year, a 20-day-old baby became the first case of microcephaly associated with the zika virus in the country.
Since then, the Health authorities initiated a strong education, prevention, and awareness campaign and, despite the fact that the number of cases to date is lower than the previous year, Dr. Salas warned that it is necessary to remain alert and that it is a work in community to protect the most vulnerable populations.
Salas explained that the difference between the congenital syndrome due to zika and the congenital infection with zika, is that the first one already has palpable, visible, detectable manifestations in the examinations that are made in the first days; in the second case the baby only tests positive with the virus in the blood and it is known that the mother was infected during the pregnancy.
We are a tropical country with the mosquito that transmits it, and unfortunately our people have many bad habits in waste management, so they grab a can of soda and throw it in the yard, where they might have a tire they won’t pick it up and that’s what that is putting us at risk, especially those pregnant women,”
concluded the doctor.