Health Tips and News Updates

Zika Can Spread Through Oral Sex, Study Says A baby born with microcephaly is examined by a neurologiston Feb. 12, 2016, at the Pedro I hospital in Paraiba state, Brazil. Babies born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus can suffer from worse eye problems than researchers thought, according to a new study. (FELIPE DANA/AP) A new report from France suggests that the Zika virus can be transmitted through oral sex. Zika is typically spread through the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, but the new case adds to building evidence that the virus may be transmitted through sexual contact more readily than thought. Zika symptoms are typically mild in most people. However, the virus can cause a catastrophic birth defect known as microcephaly in babies born to women who become infected while pregnant. These infants are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. In the face of the growing reality of sexual transmission of Zika, U.N. health officials ann...

Tourists warned to ‘think twice’ about visiting Disney World over Zika scare The southern state of Florida has the second highest number of Zika cases in the US. © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters An expert has warned that as summer heat builds visitors to Florida’s Disney World are increasing their risk of contracting the Zika virus. Professor Jimmy Whitworth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine warned tourists to “think twice” before traveling to southern US states. With 121 confirmed cases of the virus, Florida is second only to New York with 127, according to the CDC. Speaking to the Daily Mail Professor Whitworth said at the moment visitors to the state were not at risk but as summer months approach “the situation might change.” Currently, all cases of the Zika virus in the US have been contracted abroad, according to the CDC. As the summer months bring an increase in both the tourist and mosquito population, the risk of a local mosquito biting an infe...