DOH STRENGTHENS MONITORING AGAINST ZIKA VIRUS
The Department of Health (DOH) today calls on all pregnant women to be more careful against mosquito bites especially during daytime and it also encourages those with fever, rashes and conjunctivitis to immediately consult doctors to ease apprehensions over catching the Zika virus. “Pregnant women should be wary about mosquito bites because although the Zika infection is asymptomatic in 80% of cases and most of the time self-limiting, the effect on the result of pregnancy should not be discounted as the virus has been linked to congenital central nervous system malformation like microcephaly,” Health Secretary Janette P. Loreto-Garin disclosed. The health chief, however, clarifies the allegations on microcephaly cases in the Philippines. “Let it be clear that Zika virus is not the only cause of microcephaly. There are many potential causes of microcephaly, but often the cause remains unknown. The most common causes include: infections in the womb: toxoplasmosis (caused by a para...