Keep the risks of Zika in perspective

Zika hysteria is currently in full swing with the news that a small area of Miami (yes, Miami! in a civilized country!) is now the subject of a Zika public health warning by the US Centers for Disease Control and the Canadian Public Health Agency.

But we should take comfort from the fact that this is only a small isolated local threat and not an epidemic, that only a small subset of the population (pregnant women, or those about to become pregnant) is at any great risk, and that they can take measure to protect themselves (by using a DEET-based mosquito repellent, or by wearing long sleeves and long pants). So, if women of child-bearing age take these precautions, and also take other measures to avoid becoming pregnant, at least while the Zika outbreak persists, then the worst of the dangers can be minimized.

Granted, a total of 67 countries, including huge ones like Brazil, have now reported the Zika virus. But, other than a small risk of microcephaly in babies of infected women, the overall health risks of the virus are relatively minor: 80% of people infected show no symptoms at all, and those symptoms that do show are usually limited to fever, rash, joint pain and pink-eye. Even among infected pregnant women, the risk of passing on a birth defect to a baby is around 1 in 100.

This is not to belittle the emotional trauma of bearing a microencephalitic baby, but we do need to keep the risks of Zika in perspective. In many of the tropic and sub-tropical countries where Zika has been reported, other infectious illnesses, such as measles, rubella and gastrointestinal infections, are much more common, and are probably more of a concern. The common flu is probably more of a risk to competitors and visitors to the Rio Olympics than the Zika virus (it is currently winter, and flu season, in Brazil).