Zika Prevention

- Use Insect Repellent

Look for the following active ingredients: Deet - Picaridin - Ir3535 - Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus - Para-menthane-diol.

- Wear Protective Clothes

Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants or use insect repellent. For extra protection treat clothing with permethrin.

- Use a Condom to Avoid Human to Human Sexual Transmition

Use a condom every time you engage in intercourse (vaginal, anal, or oral) to avoid human to human sexual transmition.

- Mosquito-proof Your Home

Use screen on windows and doors. Use air conditioning when available. Keep mosquitoes from laying eggs near standing Water.

- Empty Out Containers with Standing Water Daily

What you need to know

• Transmission, Daytime is the Most Dangerous

  Zika is transmitted through the bite of a daytime-active species of mosquito called Aedes aegypti, which is prevalent in warm, humid climates, such as South Florida.

• Symptoms

  Zika’s symptoms can include rash, joint pains, conjunctivitis (pinkeye) and fever, and tend to subside within a week or two. And in approximately 75 percent of cases, people show no symptoms at all.

  Though no treatment for the Zika virus itself exists, its symptoms can be treated by drinking plenty of fluids, resting and taking acetaminophen to reduce pain and fevers.

  Disease prevention doctors advise against taking NSAID pain relievers like aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, however, unless doctors have ruled out the possibility of having hemorrhagic dengue fever, a disease that is similar to Zika.

  Doctors said Acetaminophen is our friend.

• Cause for Concern During Pregnancy

  The WHO suspects a link between Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly in the babies of those infected at birth; the condition results in infants born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.

  The cause for concern arose after thousands of cases of microcephaly were reported in Brazil in the last year, an increase of 3,900 percent from the number of cases reported in 2014.

  There is little definitive information indicating how long the virus persists in the body once contracted, so infectious diseases doctors suggests waiting two months after recovery from Zika virus infection before trying to become pregnant.

• No Known Treatment

  There is no specific treatment for Zika. It is still up in the air as to whether any of the existing antivirals would have any effect whatsoever, and whether they would do more harm than good.

  Additionally, no vaccine has yet been developed to prevent the contraction of Zika.

• Prevention

  FIU professors suggest the best ways to prevent contracting Zika are to wear long clothing; use DEET, or other mosquito repellents; and to check surroundings to ensure there is no standing water, where mosquitoes can breed.

  Alternative repellants like oil of lemon eucalyptus might also work. Keep in mind the U.S. Food and Drug Administration counsels that insect repellents containing DEET should not be used in infants under 2 months of age. Oil of lemon eucalyptus products should not be used on children under 3 years of age.

For additional information and resources, please visit the CDC’s Zika Homepage, the Florida Department of Health Zika Homepage or the FIU Emergency Management.

Students with concerns about Zika, may contact FIU Student Health at 305-348-2401.

Faculty, staff and other members of the community, may contact FIU Health 305-348-3627(DOCS).

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