Feb 08 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai)
France restricts blood transfusions over Zika
Paris:
REUTERS
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Travellers coming back from any outbreak zones of the Zika virus will need to wait at least 28 days before giving blood to avoid any risk of transmission, French health minister Marisol Touraine said on Sunday .Zika, which is rapidly spreading through the Americas and has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is primarily transmitted through mosquito bites. However, Brazil in the last week announced two cases of transmission through blood transfusions from infected donors.
“Someone who comes from a zone where there is Zika can not give blood for 28 days,“ Touraine said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, news channel iTele and Le Monday daily. She also advised pregnant women to inform the authorities if they had travelled to any of the zones.
Zika has been reported in more than 30 countries since it first appeared in the Americas last year, where it has been linked to thousands of babies being born with microcephaly .
This is a condition where infants have abnor mally small heads and often ihave underdeveloped brains.
There is no vaccine or tre atment for the virus.
Eighteen cases have been reported in travellers in France, Touraine said.
Mainland France has been spared by the virus, but it has hit some of its overseas territo ries like the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadelou pe, and French Guyana which neighbours Brazil.
3,100 Colombia moms-to-be are infected
More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas.
Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly.
There are so far no recorded cases of Zika-linked microcephaly in Colombia, Santos said.
The government is now uncertain about a previous projection for up to 500 cases of Zika-linked microcephaly, based on data from other countries battling the disease, he said.
“Someone who comes from a zone where there is Zika can not give blood for 28 days,“ Touraine said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, news channel iTele and Le Monday daily. She also advised pregnant women to inform the authorities if they had travelled to any of the zones.
Zika has been reported in more than 30 countries since it first appeared in the Americas last year, where it has been linked to thousands of babies being born with microcephaly .
This is a condition where infants have abnor mally small heads and often ihave underdeveloped brains.
There is no vaccine or tre atment for the virus.
Eighteen cases have been reported in travellers in France, Touraine said.
Mainland France has been spared by the virus, but it has hit some of its overseas territo ries like the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadelou pe, and French Guyana which neighbours Brazil.
3,100 Colombia moms-to-be are infected
More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas.
Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly.
There are so far no recorded cases of Zika-linked microcephaly in Colombia, Santos said.
The government is now uncertain about a previous projection for up to 500 cases of Zika-linked microcephaly, based on data from other countries battling the disease, he said.
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