Sexual transmission of Zika is MORE common than first feared, says WHO - as couples are told to abstain from sex for 8 weeks amid microcephaly fears

  • Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common than first feared
  • WHO experts advise couples abstain from sex or use protection for 8 weeks - up from 4 - when one or both partners return from virus-hit area
  • Comes amid fears the virus can trigger birth defect microcephaly 

By Lizzie Parry For Dailymail.com

Published: 07:22 EST, 31 May 2016 | Updated: 13:22 EST, 31 May 2016

Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common that health experts first feared, it has emerged.

The discovery has prompted the World Health Organization to revise its advise to women who have visited areas hit by the virus.

Health experts now suggest women abstain from sex, or use protection and delay conceiving for at least eight weeks after they or their partner returns from areas where Zika is rife.

Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common that health experts first feared, it has emerged. The discovery has prompted the World Health Organization to revise its advise regarding conception, urging couples to abstain from sex or use protection and delay conceiving for at least eight weeks 

Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common that health experts first feared, it has emerged. The discovery has prompted the World Health Organization to revise its advise regarding conception, urging couples to abstain from sex or use protection and delay conceiving for at least eight weeks 

The WHO said today that couples or women planning pregnancy 'are strongly recommend to wait at least eight weeks before trying to conceive', to ensure the virus has cleared their bodies.

The recommendation, which doubles the abstinence period the WHO had previously advised, comes after scientists found the virus lingers longer than previously thought in blood or other body fluids, spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a news briefing. 

If the male partner in a couple planning pregnancy has symptoms of the Zika virus, the period of safe abstinence should be six months, he added. 

'People should practise safer sex or abstain for at least eight weeks if they are returning from Zika-affected areas,' he said. 'The previous recommendation suggested a period of at least four weeks, so we're upping (it).'

The new guidelines 'reflect what we have learned about Zika disease and its complications,' he added.

Asked if this new advice amounted to an effective ban on pregnancies in Brazil, where the virus first appeared a year ago.

The recommendation, which doubles the abstinence period the WHO had previously advised, comes after scientists found the virus lingers longer than previously thought in blood or other body fluids (file photo)

The recommendation, which doubles the abstinence period the WHO had previously advised, comes after scientists found the virus lingers longer than previously thought in blood or other body fluids

Mr Lindmeier said: 'The guidance is to delay or consider delaying pregnancy, certainly recognizing that this is tough for some populations.'

The spokesman said scientists are still investigating how long the virus can be traced in saliva but these tests have so far been inconclusive.

'All this is being studied to see where else we find the virus and how long it sustains there,' he said. 

The current outbreak of Zika has been linked to microcephaly, a rare defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage, and a condition known as Guillain-Barre syndrome, that can trigger temporary paralysis.   

POSTPONING RIO OLYMPIC GAMES 'COULD SPEED SPREAD OF ZIKA' 

Postponing the Rio Olympics due to fears that the event could speed the spread of the Zika virus would give a 'false' sense of security because travellers are constantly going in and out of Brazil, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency committee said.

More than 100 medical experts and scientists called last Friday for the Rio Games to be postponed or moved due to fears over the spread of the virus, which is linked to serious birth defects.

The WHO rejected their call.

Postponing the Rio Olympics due to fears that the event could speed the spread of the Zika virus would give a 'false' sense of security because travellers are constantly going in and out of Brazil, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency committee said. Pictured, health workers spraying insecticide in Rio

Postponing the Rio Olympics due to fears that the event could speed the spread of the Zika virus would give a 'false' sense of security because travellers are constantly going in and out of Brazil, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency committee said. Pictured, health workers spraying insecticide in Rio

Extensive travel in a globalised world is the issue, not the Games that start on August 5, said David Heymann, chair of the Health Protection Agency in Britain who also leads the WHO panel of independent experts on Zika.

'The problem is not the Olympics, the problem is other travel besides the Olympics, if there is a problem,' Professor Heymann said.

'People go in and out of Brazil all the time for holiday, for business, for whatever. And the Olympics is much less travel, it would be one-time travel. It's actually in the winter months when hopefully transmission (of the virus) is less.'

'So it's just a false security to say that you'll postpone the Olympics and postpone the globalisation of this disease.'

Professor Heymann called for careful surveillance by countries of their athletes who return from Brazil, though he added that diagnostic tests for Zika were 'very difficult to obtain right now'.

 

 

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