Zika Case Confirmed In Chicago ex-Colombia

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First Zika case in Chicago reported.

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Woman tests positive for Zika virus at Chicago North Side hospital

POSTED 11:27 AM, FEBRUARY 29, 2016, BY WGN WEB DESK

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CHICAGO — The fifth case of the Zika virus in Illinois has been reported at a Chicago hospital.

Doctors at Presence Saint Joseph Hospital on the city’s North Side announced at 11 a.m. Monday that a woman tested positive for the virus.

The patient was tested because she recently traveled to Colombia, and had symptoms consistent with the Zika virus.

There are three confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Illinois, but this is the first case in Chicago.

http://wgntv.com/2016/02/29/woman-tests-positive-for-zika-virus-at-chicago-north-side-hospital/

 

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Map update https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=zv94AJqgUct4.kT4qLMXp3SLU

 

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Commentary: 

Being Pregnant Patient No. 1 for Zika in Chicago

Debra Gittler reads to students at San Jorge School, in the middle of a coffee plantation in rural El Salvador, as part of her work with the educational organization ConTextos. She's the director of ConTextos, an educational NGO based in El Salvador. (Jim Garbarino)

Debra Gittler

 

Last week, I reached the halfway point of my pregnancy. And officially became the first high-risk pregnancy for Zika exposure in Chicago. There are five confirmed cases of Zika in Illinois and nine cases of pregnant women with Zika exposure in New York City. Sadly, one of those women just gave birth to a microcephalic baby, which means the infant's head is significantly smaller, often due to abnormal brain development.

While my health care providers have gone above and beyond to monitor my — and my baby's — progress, my insurance carrier balks at covering the costs.

For the past five years, I've split my time between El Salvador and Chicago. I was exposed to Zika while abroad; the virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes living in tropical climates and through sexual contact. In January, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced possible links between Zika and fetal brain deformation, I immediately moved full-time to Chicago.

The Zika virus has been linked to severe birth defects, including microcephaly, since it surfaced in Brazil about a year ago.

I was the first pregnant patient with possible Zika exposure at the Erie Family Health Center and Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Prentice Women's Hospital. In December, while two months pregnant in El Salvador, two of 15 employees in my office were diagnosed with Zika. I had been doubtful about the spread of the Zika disease. Then suddenly there were two women in my own office infected with the virus. We didn't know then that the disease could become a global health threat.

 

Days after arriving in Chicago, I was scheduled for an ultrasound. The results showed reasons for concern. Given my situation, my doctors recommended a battery of tests.

Days later, the CDC announced additional protocols. I had another round of appointments. My 20-week review, a milestone for any pregnancy, now carried an added weight. I was told — again — that given my potential Zika exposure, there were reasons to be concerned for my baby's health.

Erie and Prentice employees have treated me with the utmost respect. Nurses, doctors and counselors hand me tissues for tears while they review my baby's growth, constantly emphasizing how little we know about the disease. They stay on the phone and in consultations trying to understand the ever-changing CDC protocols: what tests to complete, frequency of ultrasounds, how to define risk.

Now, I've been told that for me and my baby's well-being, I should have ultrasounds every two weeks.

But my insurance provider refuses to cover these services. My benefits include 100 percent prenatal coverage. While doctor's visits are covered in full, the correlating ultrasounds, blood work and labs aren't included. Which raises the question: What does my insurance company think happens during a prenatal appointment? You urinate in a cup, get an ultrasound, give blood, repeat.

For a pregnancy with Zika, I'll repeat these steps every two weeks.

It's too bad my first pregnancy is so stressful. This should be a happy time, filled with excitement and wonder. But my experience is filled with dread, fear and lots of visits with doctors. And of course, disappointment that my insurance company refuses to cover medical services suggested by my physicians and the CDC.

Zika virus in Illinois: 5 cases, all travel-related

If I had stayed in El Salvador, an emergency room ultrasound at an elite private hospital costs just $42. Here, my ultrasounds will cost me hundreds or thousands of dollars each, thanks to health insurance that aims to hustle me and my baby out of coverage during a high-risk, infectious disease-exposure pregnancy by one of the most frightening global health threats in recent history.

I'm relieved to be back home in Chicago. And grateful for world-class doctors at world-class facilities. But my health insurance in America is just as Third World as the country where I was exposed to Zika in the first place.

Debra Gittler is founder and executive director of ConTextos, an educational NGO based in El Salvador.

Copyright © 2016, Chicago Tribune

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