IFWT_ZIKA

Zika, a new STD just made the WHO’s Global Health Emergency list. Hit the jump to find out how to protect yourself from this virus as it makes its way around the world.

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Though you can recover quickly from the Zika virus, it can be deadly. Not only can it kill you, it can severely affect pregnant women. Babies born during the time a woman is infected come out with misshapen heads and heavy brain damage. Take the following precautions to protect yourself as best you can in our current state of knowledge.

1. Stay out of South America.

2. See a doctor if you have all of the following symptoms: fever, irritated eyes, headache, joint pain, a rash.

3. Check any babies born with head sizes below 32 cm all the way around (diameter.) They could have microcephaly, a byproduct of Zika.

4. Prevent! Put on bug spray if the temperature is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Watch mosquito bites closely.

Bonus: Wear a condom!

Facts:

As professionals document more cases, intelligence about the Zika virus can Right now only one in five people who contract Zika show any symptoms. Scary. Meanwhile, even if symptoms show no test exists to be sure yet. Doctors have to play detective and observe patients. For this reason, the Red Cross asks that anyone who suspects they may have Zika abstain from donating blood.

Keep in mind four out of five people who get this virus show no symptoms. So if you feel anything different or weird in your body after sex, you might want to see a doctor. Though short-lived, sometimes this Zika virus is deadly. Right now humans and mosquitoes both show Zika, which means it must be transmitted through the bloodstream.

Though thousands of cases have entered medical offices, only a few hundred got treated. This means people out there are walking around with this virus with no medicine and no idea if they truly have it. If someone thinks they even might be healthy, odds are they will not turn down sex under the right circumstances. Dangerous.

Source: BBC