Written by Kara Bowen
In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization announced the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. While the illness is rarely serious, symptoms usually lasting less than a week, its association with the neurological syndrome of microcephaly (abnormally small head and brain) in newborns has caused global alarm. Since October, doctors in northern Brazil have noticed a rise in the condition with nearly 4,000 suspected cases in infants.
The Zika virus is transmitted primarily through mosquito bites, although it has been found in human saliva, urine, and semen. Because of the risk for fetuses, on January 19 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging that those living in areas of active Zika infections should regularly use condoms with pregnant partners or abstain from sex until the baby has been born. Other CDC guidelines suggest that pregnant women coming back from traveling in areas with the Zika virus should consult a doctor and have a blood test for the virus in symptoms are displayed.
In Latin American countries, women are discouraged from becoming pregnant to prevent the rise in microcephaly cases. Columbia’s health ministry is calling for women to delay pregnancies for six to eight months, while Jamaica advises for six to twelve. El Salvador is recommends waiting until 2018.
The outbreak’s risk to pregnant women has renewed discussion about women’s right to abortion and access to reproductive health care, particularly for poor women who are most exposed to mosquitos carrying the infection. While pregnancy is discouraged, Brazil’s strict abortion laws and conservative stance on reproductive health lead to many poor women having illegal abortions. “Asking women to avoid pregnancy without offering the necessary information, education, contraceptives or access to abortion is not a reasonable health policy,” wrote Debora Diniz in an op-ed article in The New York Times. These back-alley abortions seem like the only option for many women, as those left to be caregivers of the children may be abandoned by their partners and unable to support themselves financially. “The state shouldn’t abandon them, too,” continued Diniz. “It needs to provide financial support and social services for the poor women and their children who are suffering from the effects of Zika.”
