But this news might assuage your panic a bit.
Much has been made of the arrival of the Zika virus on Irish shores, but according to the Irish Times, the two Irish cases of the virus have already fully recovered. Neither patient was at risk of pregnancy.
The disease, which is carried by mosquitoes, is being investigated as the cause of an unprecedented number of cases of microcephaly in Brazilian babies.
Microcephaly is a condition wherein babies are born with smaller, damaged brains. Life expectancy for children with the condition is reduced, and the prospects of attaining normal brain function are poor.
The two Irish Zika patients regularly visit Zika affected countries, which hugely increases one’s risk of having contracted the virus. It has been speculated that the disease be sexually transmitted, so anyone who has visited these countries must be careful and wear a condom during intimacy.
These are the places that have been badly affected by Zika:
- American Samoa
- Barbados
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Cape Verde
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Curacao
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- French Guiana
- Guadaloupe
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Martinique
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Martin
- Samoa
- Suriname
- US Virgin Islands
- Venezuela
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