zika

As you've probably seen, unless you've been living in a cave, Zika virus is the infectious disease topic du jour. From an obscure virus to the newest scare, interest in the virus has skyrocketed just in the past few weeks:   I have a few pieces already on Zika, so I won't repeat myself here. The first is an introductory primer to the virus, answering the basic questions--what is it, where did it come from, what are its symptoms, why is it concerning? The second focuses on Zika's potential risk to pregnant women, and what is currently being advised for them. I want to be clear, though--…
A public-health nightmare is unfolding in Brazil, where the mosquito-borne virus Zika has been linked to nearly 4,000 cases of microcephaly – infants born with abnormally small brains and heads. Around 20% of adults with Zika don’t develop symptoms, which include fever, rash, and joint pain, so pregnant women may not even know they were infected. The list of places with active Zika transmisison currently includes 19 countries plus Puerto Rico in the Americas, as well as Samoa and Cape Verde. While the link between Zika and microcephaly “hasn't been proved definitely,” NPR’s Jason Beaubien…
A few of the recent pieces I've liked: Maryn’s McKenna at Germination: Zika Virus: A New Threat and a New Kind of Pandemic Kevin Drum in Mother Jones: My Right to Die: Assisted suicide, my family, and me Jodi Jacobson at RH Reality Check: Four Facts Nancy Pelosi—and All ‘Pro-Choice’ Democrats—Should Know About Abortion Sarah Brown in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Many Black Students Don’t Seek Help for Mental-Health Concerns, Survey Finds David Epstein at ProPublica: The DIY Scientist, the Olympian, and the Mutated Gene