Zika virus in the female genital tract

Abstract

A recent Editorial 1 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases used erroneous reasoning to argue that Zika virus poses no worry for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics-namely, that 92% of Zika cases are far away from Rio (wrong: Rio de Janeiro state has 29% of probable

Suspected Female-to-Male Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus — New York City, 2016

“…Recent reports document detection of Zika virus in the female genital tract, including vaginal fluid. A study on nonhuman primates found Zika virus RNA detected in the vaginal fluid of three nonpregnant females up to 7 days after subcutaneous inoculation (3), and Zika virus RNA was detected in specimens from a woman's cervical mucous, genital swab, and endocervical swab collected 3 days after illness onset, using an unspecified RT-PCR test (4). Further studies are needed to determine the characteristics of Zika virus shedding in the genital tract and vaginal fluid of humans.…”

Update: Interim Guidance for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus — United States, July 2016

“…In most cases, serial semen specimens were not collected until Zika virus RNA was no longer detectable so that the precise duration and pattern of infectious Zika virus in semen remain unknown. Zika virus also has been transmitted from a symptomatically infected woman to a male sex partner (7), and Zika virus RNA has been detected in vaginal fluids 3 days after symptom onset and in cervical mucus up to 11 days after symptom onset (8). For sex partners of infected women, Zika virus might be transmitted through exposure to vaginal secretions or menstrual blood.…”

What do we know about Zika virus?

“…Ova vrsta živi u bliskom kontaktu s ljudima i u urbanim sredinama, što je čini idealnim prenositeljem infekcija. matske faze bolesti 15 , kao i 14 dana od početka bolesti, kada se više nije detektirao u krvi ili urinu 16 . ZIKV je detektiran i u slini i 3 mjeseca od početka bolesti, a zbog velikog izlaganja slini tijekom spolnog odnosa ona može biti alternativni izvor virusa kod spolnog prijenosa 17,18 .…”

“…Preporučeno razdoblje u kojem bi žene koje su zaražene ili su boravile u zahvaćenom području trebale izbjegavati trudnoću je barem osam tjedana 32 . Ova razlika proizlazi iz činjenice da je ZIKV puno duže prisutan u sjemenoj tekućini negoli u drugim tjelesnim sekretima [12][13][14][15] . Nadalje, pažnja se mora pridodati i mogućem prijenosu krvlju, prvenstveno testiranjem darovane krvi na ZIKV 21 .…”