He said when it comes to women, the advice is straight forward. “So the first thing you want to do is make sure before you go to a Zika infected area that you are not pregnant,” said Dr. Schaffner. He said while you are there, use insect repellent containing deet and when you return from your vacation wait two weeks and you should be in the clear.
Safe traveling
For couples returning from vacations where the Zika virus is prevalent, when is it safe to get pregnant?
Dr. William Schaffner, an expert in the area of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine told New 2 he gets that question a lot.
He said when it comes to women, the advice is straight forward. “So the first thing you want to do is make sure before you go to a Zika infected area that you are not pregnant,” said Dr. Schaffner. He said while you are there, use insect repellent containing deet and when you return from your vacation wait two weeks and you should be in the clear.
When it comes to men, things are more complicated.
Until recently, most of the studies regarding the Zika virus revolved around pregnant women. Now doctors are leaning new information on how the virus affects men.
“The Zika virus can indeed go down into the man’s reproductive system and remain positive in the man’s semen for an indeterminate period of time,” said Dr. Schaffner.
He said there has been only one study conducted on a man who had Zika in the South Pacific. He tested positive for the virus for 62 days. However, scientists discontinued testing after that time period.
“So there is no way a girl or a man can come back from a Zika area and say, do a test and see if I’m positive. Or, the fellas are still not able to submit a seaman sample to say, we’ll is my semen positive? Maybe that will be available in six to eight months or a year from now, but it’s not available at the present time,” said Dr. Schaffner.
Dr. Schaffner said right now Zika testing resources are limited and testing is only available for pregnant women concerned they might be infected with the virus.
The Zika virus is prevalent in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico and the Pacific Islands.
He said when it comes to women, the advice is straight forward. “So the first thing you want to do is make sure before you go to a Zika infected area that you are not pregnant,” said Dr. Schaffner. He said while you are there, use insect repellent containing deet and when you return from your vacation wait two weeks and you should be in the clear.
