WHO-"Zika virus could cause paralysis in adults"

 Shortly after the Rio Olympics Games in Brazil, a local species of Zika virus has hit Singapore with new increase of 275 cases from 17 cases recorded in the country.
  The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said there was strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.
  According to reports, the newly found potential cluster in Bishan, the Ministry of Health of Singapore reported yesterday that an additional 17 local cases of Zika were confirmed on Tuesday, September 6, pushing up the total number of cases in Singapore to 275.

  A joint statement by the Ministry of Health, and National Environment Agency, NEA) also revealed a potential new cluster at Bishan Street 12, in the wake of a previously reported case and a new case there today and promised that NEA would carry out vector control operations and outreach efforts there.
  It has also been reported that most people who are infected with Zika have mild symptoms but infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly – a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized – as well as other brain abnormalities. In adults, Zika infections have also been linked to a rare neurological syndrome known as Guillain-Barre, as well as other neurological disorders.
Earlier in a statement the ministry authorities said they have tested 124 people, primarily construction workers. Seventy-eight tested negative and five cases were pending. Thirty-four patients have fully recovered. It was not immediately clear where the foreign workers were from, but Singapore hosts a large contingent of workers from the Asian sub-continent.
“All the cases are residents or workers in the Aljunied Crescent/Sims Drive area. They are not known to have travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus likely to have been infected in Singapore. This confirms that local transmission of Zika virus infection has taken place,” the statement said.
Zika was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked to more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.


PILOT NG