Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Zika Outbreak: Mindfulness and Caution called for

Share Your Thoughts: Facebooktwitterlinkedin

An obscure virus, known for years and long considered a minor affliction, suddenly spreads and causes hitherto unseen damage to humans. This is not unusual. In fact, it is an eternal story, repeated time and again by a resilient and adaptable Nature. The spread and impact of Zika are but the latest chapter in this never-ending story; and a textbook example of the response of epidemiology and science.

The latest updates from CDC reflect the deepening understanding of this outbreak fostered by intense research in response to a burgeoning health crisis. To put it in plain language, the closer you look the more you discover.

Standing Water attracts mosquitoes Zika Virus controlThis discovery includes reexamination of the range of the Zika carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito. News reports explain in terms of numbers of states – currently 30. That belies – to a certain degree – the extent of A. aegypti’s range, which extends from north of San Francisco to and across the entire South, and up the eastern seaboard well into Connecticut. This includes many of the nation’s largest cities.

As warm weather returns, so shall mosquitoes. This calls for preventive measures.

• How often do we see small pools of standing water?

• Do we think to eliminate these breeding sites for mosquitoes?

• Short sleeves and pants expose skin to these daytime biting insects.

• Do we routinely use insect repellent?

Screens and air conditioning reduce exposure to mosquitoes. Travel to tropical climates where Zika has been detected should include increase vigilance, enhanced preventive measures, and post-travel awareness, by everyone, Plants-Repel-Mosquitoesnot just women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. Discovery that Zika is also transmitted via sexual contact is yet another argument for routinely practicing safer sex.

It is likely that Zika will continue to spread, even as mosquito control efforts increase and pursuit of a vaccine accelerates. Until a medical countermeasure is available, mindfulness and caution will continue to offer the best protection against the still emerging consequences of this emerging outbreak.

Related:  Herbs and Plants that may help repel insects

Share Your Thoughts: Facebooktwitterlinkedin