Symptoms of virus infection Zika

Only one out of four or five people infected with the virus Zika Zika develops the disease. That is, 75-80% of those infected do not become aware of infection to not develop symptoms. Other diseases caused by flavivirus can also be asymptomatic (such as dengue virus or West Nile virus).

In cases where the disease develops, this appears after an incubation period of between 3 and 12 days. Symptoms are usually mild and short duration, between 2 and 7 days. Often you not get to know the etiologic diagnosis, or considered as dengue or chikungunya.

The symptom of infection is most common Zika fever virus, which does not become very high, usually below 38.5 ° C, and can be accompanied by joint pain with mild inflammation of joints, especially of the hands and feet. You may see a maculopapular eruption, ie, red spots that may be slightly large raised, and they do not bite. The rash usually begins on the face and then spread to the rest of the body.

Another common symptom in patients affected is the red eye, or conjunctivitis in both eyes, but without the presence of pus. Some infected have vomiting, abdominal pain, or diarrhea. Additionally, general symptoms as muscle pain, general fatigue and headache are described, sometimes behind the eyes.

Zika virus complications of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome

Zika outbreak in French Polynesia cases of autoimmune neurological symptoms were described after spending illness compatible with Zika virus. Specifically, several people from Guillain-Barre syndrome (a neurological autoimmune type of disorder in which muscle weakness that can last for many months but with proper treatment usually recover in almost every case appears) were diagnosed.

In the current outbreak of Zika in Brazil have been described new cases of neurological and autoimmune complications, but the fact that most cases are asymptomatic difficult to perform a real estimate of the risk, which in any case appears to remain low . Most worrisome is that there is an alarming increase in cases of microcephaly in newborns in northeastern Brazil and some other American region, which has been linked to pregnant women who have passed the infection during pregnancy. In some countries of the American continent it is even recommending that women living in areas with circulation Zika not become pregnant yet. In addition, it should assess the risk of pregnant travelers to areas with Zika circulation.

Despite what has been said, it is still rare for the disease by the Zika virus requiring hospitalization for their severity. Only following the last outbreak described a case of death possibly caused by Zika, especially in babies born with microcephaly. Anyway, being an evolving epidemic, their characteristics may be changing over time. Therefore, all national and supranational health organizations have extreme their epidemiological surveillance measures.