Zika prevention kits


State issuing Zika prevention kits.

The Zika virus is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito called Aedes aegypti.
The Zika virus is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito called Aedes aegypti.

Virginia health officials are using federal money left over from Ebola prevention and turning it to a different infectious disease threat: the Zika virus.
About 10,000 Zika prevention kits have been sent to health departments across the state.



Robert Mauskapf, director of emergency preparedness for the Virginia Department of Health, said the kits were designed to educate pregnant women or women who think they might become pregnant about the virus that is circulating in South and Central America and the Caribbean.
The kits contain insect repellent and condoms, since the two main methods of transmission are through mosquito bites and sexual activity.

 Mauskapf said the samples aren’t expected to protect women through an entire mosquito season, but they are a way of emphasizing some of the written material included about the disease. Zika can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies’ heads are smaller than normal. The virus has also been linked to neurological disorders in adults.

 The main method of transmission has been mosquitoes that are infected with the virus. It is also spread through sexual contact with infected people. There have been 618 Zika cases reported in the United States, 20 in Virginia. One case has been reported in the eastern part of the state that includes Hampton Roads.

 All U.S. cases have been associated with travel to places where the virus is circulating, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise women who are pregnant not to travel to those areas.

 But as temperatures rise, the risk of Zika transmission locally by mosquitoes will also go up. In this area, the Aedes albopictus, also called the Asian tiger mosquito, is common during the summer and is one transmitter of Zika. The Aedes aegypti, which is more common in warmer states such as Florida and Texas, is a more efficient transmitter of the disease.

 Federal officials announced last week that Medicaid, the state-federal insurance for low-income families, can be used to pay for insect repellent when it’s prescribed by a health provider.

 The state’s Zika education kits cost $72,000 and were distributed to localities based on population. Norfolk, for instance, received 214 kits, which will be distributed to local obstetricians and other health partners.

 Dr. Heidi Kulberg, health director of the Virginia Beach health department, said public health officials in that city will be contacting obstetrical and gynecological practices to offer an education session to distribute the kits and to discuss the impact of Zika on patients and what health providers need to know about testing.

 Dr. David Chang, director of Portsmouth’s health department, said that city’s kits will be distributed through health department clinics, community health centers, and obstetrical and family medicine practices.

 Leftover Ebola prevention money also will be used for public awareness campaigns and mosquito monitoring throughout the state.

 Source: fredericksburg
Location: United States

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