Non-Alarmist Guide to the Zika Virus

[pRICE cUBE]

A more measured article that differs from the infotainment TV news versions you might be seeing lately.

http://vitals.lifehacker.com/your-non-al...1756627224

Until recently, nobody was very concerned about Zika. It was rare, and it wasn’t associated with serious complications. But there’s recently been a huge explosion in cases of suspected microcephaly in newborns in Brazil. The CDC has advised women who are or might be pregnant not to travel to the countries where Zika is spreading.

The link between Zika and microcephaly is not proven, but it’s plausible. Zika arrived in Brazil recently, possibly during the 2014 World Cup, and the surge in microcephaly cases followed. More worldwide spread is possible—the 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. (Athletes are stocking up on bug spray.)

The Brazilian government is now investigating over 4000 cases where babies have heads smaller than 13 inches around, compared to just 150 cases in a typical year. That large number may be inflated; more than half of the babies investigated so far just had small-but-normal heads, or had microcephaly for some other reason. But whatever the exact numbers, there is definitely a surge, and fingers are pointing at Zika.

[freeradical]

FUD sells. Consider "Mad Cow Disease". I believe the total body for this is about 200 people. From what I understand, it's impossible to tell if those people got the disease from eating contaminated meat, or if they would have simply naturally developed the disease anyway. If this is true, the question becomes how many excess deaths were caused by eating contaminated beef. Remember, people were eating potentially contaminated beef for a 15 year period. To this day, I'm still not allowed to donate blood because I spent too much time in Europe during that period. I kind of find this crazy. This policy of the Red Cross must exclude many millions of possible blood donors.

[jdc]

Athletes at the Olympics in Rio would probably love it if zika was the worst thing they had to deal with.

http://en.mercopress.com/2016/01/16/dead...lebrations