That’s the biggest piece of advice going around right now, as the threat of Zika looms.
“But I haven’t heard of anyone with Zika”. Right now there are 935 reported Zika cases in the US. For every patient who ends up with symptoms, there are 3 or4 who get no symptoms or very mild symptoms; even factoring in a few people (like pregnant women) getting tested proactively, there’s still a couple thousand more people in the US with unreported Zika.
Thanks to travel patterns, many of those cases are in states that have Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that carries Zika), so there’s a very good chance it will start to spread into US mosquitoes.
If symptoms are usually mild, why does it matter? Well, Zika has been strongly linked to two serious conditions: Guillain-Barre, which can affect anyone but is more common in people with weakened immune systems (in this instance, it seems to particularly affect senior men and children), and microcephaly, which causes small heads in babies (more graphically it causes developing brain matter to rot and fall inward).
What can be done? Wear long sleeves and repellant and try not to get bit. If you’re in a warm, humid climate, take precautions within your home (and particularly your bedroom) to deter pets. A. aegypti is an all-day mosquito who likes to live IN our homes—especially bedrooms. There are human and pet safe ways to fight them, so spend a few minutes figuring out what works best for you.
And support your immune system (try colloidal silver for daily support). We’re still figuring out what Zika is going to mean if it spreads here. New evidence shows it can linger in both men and women for months, and can be transmitted through bodily fluids (including saliva, and it lingers in sperm for months, making it an STD). Anything you do to be proactive now you will likely be grateful for in a few months when we have more data on how far it’s spread and what the consequences are.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
