Zika

xstew

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Jul 4, 2012
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There was a death of a 6 year old in Padre Granero, Puerto Plata attributed to Zika.

I had chicaunga and now had Zika last week. Did not seek medical treatment! What can they do for a illness with no prevention in place! Had Headache, Fiver, Rash, and aches all over. It now seems I'm over it. Yesterday public health came by and inspected my home and gave 3 small [Size of pidgeon eggs] bags of clorine they said I'm now protected. I asked if they were going to anything else about the problem. They said the clorine bags were all that's being done. Wonderful that they are doing that.
 

GringoRubio

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Oct 15, 2015
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I had chicaunga and now had Zika last week. Did not seek medical treatment! What can they do for a illness with no prevention in place! Had Headache, Fiver, Rash, and aches all over. It now seems I'm over it. Yesterday public health came by and inspected my home and gave 3 small [Size of pidgeon eggs] bags of clorine they said I'm now protected. I asked if they were going to anything else about the problem. They said the clorine bags were all that's being done. Wonderful that they are doing that.

Yeah, the response is completely inadequate. If you walk through Padre granero (not recommended, btw), you see the homes have no screens and there are countless pools of water, tires, etc. where they mosquitoes can breed. Zika is going to blow through like poop through a goose.

You can contrast this to my last home in Nicaragua where the public health is much stronger and fumigators routinely work through the neighborhood. Chikungunya worked it's way up the ithmus until it hit Nicaragua and it paused for several weeks until it found some way to hop skip up to states north (el Salvador, guatemala, Honduras) to continue its burn North. There are definite precautions that can be taken to combating these illnesses but there needs to be the will and a modest amount of funding.

Zika is likely to spread in the USA as well, so we'll see what the response is as most of the mosquito abatement programs have been gutted in recent years.

As for testing, I believe this is currently being done by sensitive genetic tests which are much too expensive for an island where there is is little interest in scaring off tourists ready to bare their skin to infected mosquitoes. Hopefully, the resorts do some fumigating, but otherwise, they are sticking to their cover story that there are no confirmed cases.

btw, be careful with Dengue. I had it in Nicaragua but from what I hear, if you pick up a different strain it can be lethal. The immune system amounts an ineffective response that allows the disease to continue, but it then overcompensates by unleashing a storm. It's not as dangerous if you stay in one place, but for people like me that visit different countries, it can be bad.
 

Ecoman1949

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Oct 17, 2015
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There were several cases of Zika infected people in Canada reported a few months ago. They contracted it when traveling to Zika infected countries. Yesterday the CBC reported the first case of Zika infection through sexual transmission. If memory serves me correctly, it was reported in Florida quite a while ago. It's in North America. How quickly it spreads remains to be seen.
 

xstew

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Jul 4, 2012
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There were several cases of Zika infected people in Canada reported a few months ago. They contracted it when traveling to Zika infected countries. Yesterday the CBC reported the first case of Zika infection through sexual transmission. If memory serves me correctly, it was reported in Florida quite a while ago. It's in North America. How quickly it spreads remains to be seen.

If you do nothing to reduce the sketters it will become epidemic very quickly. It seems that here they have little incentive to reduce the sketers. Until a politico's family gets it you will see no action.
 

pauleast

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Jan 29, 2012
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Being diagnosed (correctly) with Zika is not that easy. Here the Doctor is very likely to tell the patient to go home, rest and drink plenty of liquids with out testing for it. Which means it could have been any type of virus. There are different tests and each has its own problems ( false positives, negatives, specimen must be collected within 4 days of exposure from the mosquito etc.) They are working on a quicker less complicated test now that doesn't require as much training for the Physician. The virus has not killed many people at all. The only serious problem is to pregnant woman.
 
Jul 28, 2014
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There were several cases of Zika infected people in Canada reported a few months ago. They contracted it when traveling to Zika infected countries. Yesterday the CBC reported the first case of Zika infection through sexual transmission. If memory serves me correctly, it was reported in Florida quite a while ago. It's in North America. How quickly it spreads remains to be seen.


http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ansmitted-zika-virus-detected-in-ontario.html
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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I just had Zika 3 weeks ago, not as bad as the time I had chicky. I didn't go to the hospital either time for 2 reasons
1) I know how to treat it and they can't help really at all.
2) I thought I might come out with one missing leg if I went to a hospital here on the NC. I trust my nurse and dr friends way more than any Dr on the NC!

Bad rash all over my body that was really itchy yet also an uncomfortable pain, red eyes, headache, exhausted, fever, chills. Only really bad for Probably 3 days. I also had bone pains but I do get that when not feeling well or low immune since I had Chicky 2 years ago.
I did get a UTI a week later and now a kidney infection, not sure if it has anything to do with Zika??
 

TravelHippo

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Mar 24, 2008
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I just had Zika 3 weeks ago, not as bad as the time I had chicky. I didn't go to the hospital either time for 2 reasons
1) I know how to treat it and they can't help really at all.
2) I thought I might come out with one missing leg if I went to a hospital here on the NC. I trust my nurse and dr friends way more than any Dr on the NC!

Bad rash all over my body that was really itchy yet also an uncomfortable pain, red eyes, headache, exhausted, fever, chills. Only really bad for Probably 3 days. I also had bone pains but I do get that when not feeling well or low immune since I had Chicky 2 years ago.
I did get a UTI a week later and now a kidney infection, not sure if it has anything to do with Zika??

Similar case for me. No where near as bad as chikungunya nor dengue (though chikungunya was by far the worst of any). Zika only lasted a few days and only 1 was really bad. Seems a lot of people now getting it in Cabrera though... some worse than others but none too bad. I didn't go to hospital for any either, for same reasons Harleysrock listed. No need in most cases!
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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Similar case for me. No where near as bad as chikungunya nor dengue (though chikungunya was by far the worst of any). Zika only lasted a few days and only 1 was really bad. Seems a lot of people now getting it in Cabrera though... some worse than others but none too bad. I didn't go to hospital for any either, for same reasons Harleysrock listed. No need in most cases!

I currently have Zika- sore feet, finger joints, knees, itchy rash on shoulders , back, and legs, red eyes, no energy, but can't sleep. Calimine ointment is working.
 

Neargale

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Jul 4, 2013
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The zika virus on top on severe arthritis is very painful. 3 days of agonizing joint pains, fever, then burning rash all over my body followed by skin falling off like a snake then more rash then better. Somewhere in there got hit by amoeba. Then gout-like symptoms. Why me! It has been about 10 days total and zika seems gone but the amoeba is still around. Changed doctor, pharmacy and antibiotics. Hoping for great progress.
 

dv8

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mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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I just had Zika 3 weeks ago, not as bad as the time I had chicky. I didn't go to the hospital either time for 2 reasons
1) I know how to treat it and they can't help really at all.
2) I thought I might come out with one missing leg if I went to a hospital here on the NC. I trust my nurse and dr friends way more than any Dr on the NC!

Bad rash all over my body that was really itchy yet also an uncomfortable pain, red eyes, headache, exhausted, fever, chills. Only really bad for Probably 3 days. I also had bone pains but I do get that when not feeling well or low immune since I had Chicky 2 years ago.
I did get a UTI a week later and now a kidney infection, not sure if it has anything to do with Zika??

The UTI and kidney thing can happen just because immune system is down.. DO NOT mess with this one, please. I was in the hospital in August with two infections -and I did not even feel that bad - just weaker and weaker - and wanted to sleep . But when I finally went the Dr my white blood count was sky high.

In the end - I had two infections - both different one a UTI the other in my blood.. both fortunate responded to CIPRO, (they have to test
to see which antibiotic the little devils respond to)

After I left the hospital - the UTI stayed and so I went to a urologist - and it took OMG 8 months - for the thing to clear up,

So really - AT least - go and get BLOOD WORK done and check on your white blood count.Because I really did not feel that bad.
But when I took my labs to the urologist - he said "you were lucky that you did not die"

EVERY little germ really thrives here in the tropics

And we are SO not used to so many of the things that are here

And the water that we wash in -- well.. NOT so clean

So really ,.. (I know what you mean about the Chicky - I am JUST feeling almost well,., 2 years? feels like 7)
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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MA I went to CMC yesterday bc I had a temp of over 100 achey head ache, pain all over and and other things...I am on my 3 Rd round of antibiotics for the kidney thing... Cmc did not do bloodwork only a urine sample. I will go elsewhere for blood tests I guess.

They will do the blood work there as well. All you have to do is ask.