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Zika Confirmed Cases In Pennsylvania Increase To Four - 124 Pending


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Posted

Pennsylvania residents test positive for Zika virus

 
 
Ben Schmitt
  | Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, 3:00 p.m.

Updated 14 minutes ago

Two more Pennsylvanians tested positive for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, bringing the total to four, according to statistics released Monday by the state Department of Health.

Additionally, 124 state residents are awaiting test results with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn whether they are infected. No additional information on the residents was immediately available.

Last week, the health department said on its website that 53 people were waiting for results from the CDC. The state has been updating Zika figures on a weekly basis.

The CDC is performing the blood tests, which can take up to two weeks for results.

Worldwide, health authorities suspect the virus led to an increase in Brazil of microcephaly, in which children are born with abnormally small heads. As a result, the World Health Organization on Feb. 1 declared an international health emergency. The CDC advised pregnant women or those considering becoming pregnant to avoid travel to places with Zika outbreaks.

There's no vaccine for the virus, which spreads primarily through bites from a mosquito known as Aedes aegypti not typically found in Pennsylvania. The Asian tiger mosquito, a secondary type of mosquito that can carry the disease, is found in Pennsylvania but it's unknown how prevalent the virus will be in that mosquito.

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10018351-74/health-mosquito-virus?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Posted

Pa. says two more have contracted Zika

 
 

Two more people in Pennsylvania have contracted the Zika virus, the state Department of Health reported this afternoon, bringing the total to four since the department began issuing updates on the illness last month.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the latest patients have recovered from the mosquito-borne virus or where they might live. State health officials have declined to release much information about Zika-infected Pennsylvanians, citing rules that govern patient privacy.

Meanwhile, 124 other people in the state were awaiting results of Zika blood tests as of this afternoon, up from 53 early last week, according to the state’s weekly update. Among them are 27 Allegheny County residents, up from 16 about a week ago, the county health department said.

All those tested in the county may have had exposure through travel to Zika-affected regions abroad, said county health department spokeswoman Melissa Wade. She said no residents in the county have tested positive for Zika, which can cause a fever, rash and joint pain for about a week.

The two Pennsylvania cases announced earlier were in women who traveled abroad and have since recovered, according to the state health department. They did not pose an infection risk, state health secretary Karen Murphy has said.

Generally, those checked for Zika in the United States have visited Central America, South America, the Caribbean or other regions where the virus has reached epidemic proportions since last May. U.S. doctors have diagnosed more than 80 travel-associated of Zika since Jan. 1, 2015, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC has noted rare reports of transmission through blood transfusions and sexual intercourse, but mosquito bites remain the primary avenue for Zika’s spread in people. No Zika-infected mosquitoes have been reported in the U.S.

Still, the CDC has toughened domestic screening recommendations as researchers learn more about the once-obscure virus. They are most concerned about potential effects for infected pregnant women, who have seen elevated rates of birth defects.

CDC recommendations now include a blood test for any pregnant woman who has recently visited an outbreak-affected area. The agency also advises men who have visited an outbreak-affected area to use condoms or abstain from sex if their partners are pregnant.

That guidance and growing awareness of Zika are probably helping fuel the testing rates, doctors have said. It can take up two weeks from the time of a blood drawing for the CDC to determine if a person has the virus.

Adam Smeltz: [email protected], 412-263-2625 or on Twitter @asmeltz.

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2016/02/22/Pa-says-two-more-have-contracted-Zika/stories/201602220116

 

Posted

Two new cases of Zika virus confirmed in Pennsylvania

Brazil Zika Virus

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has just confirmed two new cases of the Zika virus in the commonwealth. That brings the total number of people infected with the virus here in Pennsylvania to 4.

In order to protect the patients the health department will not release the location of where the patients are from in pennsylvania or how they contracted the disease.

The state health department says it is also waiting for test results from 124 others who may also be infected with virus.

The first confirmed cases of Zika virus in Pennsylvania were reported on February 9th from two female residents who recently traveled to countries affected by the ongoing outbreak of the disease. One of those cases was identified as a student of Lehigh University.

Posted

Posted: 4:23 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, 2016

 

2 more Pennsylvania residents test positive for Zika virus, bringing total to 4

 

  •  0 16 1 17

PITTSBURGH — 

Two more Pennsylvanians tested positive for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, bringing the total to four, according to statistics released Monday by the state Department of Health.

Health officials said that 124 state residents, including 27 in Allegheny County, are still awaiting test results with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn whether they are infected. No additional information on the residents was immediately available.


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Last week, the health department said on its website that 53 people were waiting for results from the CDC. The state has been updating Zika figures on a weekly basis, Channel 11’s new partners at TribLIVE reported. 

According to TribLIVE, the CDC is performing the blood tests, which can take up to two weeks for results.

Medical authorities say most people recover in about a week from symptoms that include fever, a rash and achy joints, but doctors believe the virus puts pregnant women at serious risks for birth defects in their unborn babies.

Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department based in Pittsburgh, said the risk for residents in southwestern Pennsylvania is extremely low. She said the risk is for those who've traveled to areas in Central and South America, where the virus is rampant.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/2-more-pennsylvania-residents-test-positive-zika-v/nqWJj/

 

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