Zika risk -- travelling to Cancun. Concerns for teen daughter?

[Anonymous]

We're off to Mexico. DD is 17. Not thinking about her getting pregnant anytime soon, of course, but should we take extra precautions so that when she's ready to have kids, it's not a concern that she had Zika when she was young.

[Anonymous]

No extra precautions needed. We discussed this with our pediatrician when we went to Costa Rica. Obviously the best bet is not to get mosquito bites at all, which we accomplished with regular bug spray. I am a bit suspicious that a lot of touristy resorts and attractions are spraying for mosquitoes even if they claim not to be.

[Anonymous]

Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

Good lord. I would not do this. I would not be confident that we know all of Zika's effects on children and young people since it so clearly affects brain development. It's probable that there will be a vaccine for Zika long before OP's daughter is ready to get pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

Good lord. I would not do this. I would not be confident that we know all of Zika's effects on children and young people since it so clearly affects brain development. It's probable that there will be a vaccine for Zika long before OP's daughter is ready to get pregnant.

How do yo think humans build immunity to viruses?

She'll be fine. Zika does it's damage in-utero, not to healthy adults. And an older teen girl is essentially an adult. She's old enough to carry a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

Good lord. I would not do this. I would not be confident that we know all of Zika's effects on children and young people since it so clearly affects brain development. It's probable that there will be a vaccine for Zika long before OP's daughter is ready to get pregnant.

How do yo think humans build immunity to viruses?

She'll be fine. Zika does it's damage in-utero, not to healthy adults. And an older teen girl is essentially an adult. She's old enough to carry a child.

Dengue and chikungunya are far more dangerous than Zika (if you're not pregnant), so I wouldn't encourage mosquito bites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

Good lord. I would not do this. I would not be confident that we know all of Zika's effects on children and young people since it so clearly affects brain development. It's probable that there will be a vaccine for Zika long before OP's daughter is ready to get pregnant.

How do yo think humans build immunity to viruses?

She'll be fine. Zika does it's damage in-utero, not to healthy adults. And an older teen girl is essentially an adult. She's old enough to carry a child.

Dengue and chikungunya are far more dangerous than Zika (if you're not pregnant), so I wouldn't encourage mosquito bites.

I've had dengue. I WISH it had been Zika...

[Anonymous]

I would not want her to go. Too many unknowns.

[Anonymous]

Zika has been around since the 1940s. Please. Generations have survived it without ill effects (except if pregnant, planning to be or planning on getting someone pregnant.) I have had Zika, dengue, chichunguya, etc. and I’m fine and so are my children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

Good lord. I would not do this. I would not be confident that we know all of Zika's effects on children and young people since it so clearly affects brain development. It's probable that there will be a vaccine for Zika long before OP's daughter is ready to get pregnant.

How do yo think humans build immunity to viruses?

She'll be fine. Zika does it's damage in-utero, not to healthy adults. And an older teen girl is essentially an adult. She's old enough to carry a child.

Exactly. Zika is a concern when it is in the mother's blood system during pregnancy and circulates to the fetus. So unless she will be pregnant within six months of returning from vacation, she and her future children will be fine.
The only minor concern is that a small minority of people get Guillain-Barre from Zika infection, but this is applicable to males and females alike and actually younger people are less likely to to have long-term sequelae from Guillain-Barre.
Also, think about all the young women who live in Central and South America. If the pandemic were expanding, don't you think we would have heard about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not want her to go. Too many unknowns.

Girls and oung women should not go to Central and South America until they have finished bearing children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not want her to go. Too many unknowns.

Girls and oung women should not go to Central and South America until they have finished bearing children.

So what should all of the girls and young women currently living there do?

[Anonymous]

You should be more worried about her being in a foam cannon party with the frat boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current understanding is that once you've had it and recovered, you're immune going forward. I'd send her there with no bug spray hoping she gets it -- either no symptoms or a week feeling fluish, then in 8-10 years when she wants to get pregnant she doesn't have to worry.

Good lord. I would not do this. I would not be confident that we know all of Zika's effects on children and young people since it so clearly affects brain development. It's probable that there will be a vaccine for Zika long before OP's daughter is ready to get pregnant.

Zika kills pluripotent/multipotent (ie "stem") neuronal/brain cells.

Hence, it has a devastating effect on the developing fetus who has significantly more of these cells whereas adults have far fewer neuronal stem cells and effects from Zika infection. I didn't read the details of the scientific paper - but we are now using the Zika virus to target certain types of tumors in the brain due to the cell types that make up the tumor mass itself.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of nutty people here. Would you think twice about going to the bahamas?

Go. Have fun. Use mosquito repellent.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/world-map-areas-with-zika