Thinking back I am not even sure sex ed in school talked much about the risks of STD's in MM sex - it was always MF context - and as you say we were taught they were an issue - but none of them were life altering as pretty much everything had a cure - and growing up in a college town there were free "no ask" clinics where no one would ever find out.

The fear of getting someone pregnant messing up both your lives - even if she got an abortion there would be emotional issues - was stressed so much as the ultimate issue.

I had a buddy were we had fooled around but he was much more into girls so our fun had faded. He got a girl pregnant and but after she ended the pregnancy he started calling wanting to hang out more again for awhile....

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Another relatively common thing among the college guys was the seriously increased need to hang out (sexually) with their buddies towards the end of every month. The cash flow was running seriously low, and the entertainment fund was down to zero, but you were still horny, nonetheless.

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The key thing here was changing the mindset towards the STDs. The old days, when none it was really life-altering/threatening because, there indeed, WAS a cure available are now behind us.

Hopefully, the folks out there will take ZIKA seriously!

KD

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Back to the Zika virus itself, yesterday a new study in the British medical journal The Lancet Guillain-Barré Syndrome outbreak associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia: a case-control study linked Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and also provided a possible estimate of the odds that someone with Zika might develop GBS.

A report from CNN Study finds strong link between Zika virus and Guillain-Barre is easier to read.

The study looked at a Zika outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013- 2014 with a suspected 32,000 Zika cases and an increase in GBS.

The microcephaly cases affecting babies of Zika-infected pregnant women have been well-reported. Regarding GBS, which can affect adults, here's part of CNN's report:

The quote in CNN's piece is from Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine here in Houston.

In Zika can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, study shows USAToday talked to Arnaud Fontanet, one of the authors of The Lancet's study and head of the emerging diseases epidemiology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and noted his reluctance to generalize about the odds of Zika leading to GBS: "Fontanet said it's not possible to say what percentage of people in Latin America and the Caribbean will be infected with Zika or affected by Guillain-Barre. He notes that Zika may spread differently on a large continent than it did on these islands."

Separately, the World Health Organization released a new Situation Report about Zika, microcephaly, and GBS on February 26.

Clearly it's a developing story and researchers are learning more.

Meanwhile, we're not quite into mosquito season along the Gulf Coast. Our highs yesterday and today were into the 80s. Local authorities are still emphasizing advance clean-up of places where mosquitoes might breed as well as cautions to those who travel to Zika-affected areas and their sex partners.

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Well this is not good news...


Zika virus: Sexual transmission 'more common than thought' - BBC News

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Thanks for posting that for all of us. I'd seen the news yesterday evening but this week I've been even more pressed for time than ever.

I'm not excerpting anything right now; you can read (or watch) the links:

This is what I saw last night: CDC: Puerto Rico Will Be Ground Zero for Zika Outbreak in U.S. - NBC News

WHO statement: WHO | WHO Director-General addresses media after Zika Emergency Committee

CDC current travel advisory includes Latin American countries, Puerto Rico, and the Cape Verde Islands near Africa: Zika Travel Information | Travelers' Health | CDC

IBT discusses Zika possibilities in Taiwan, Hainan, and mentions southern mainland provinces of China: Zika Virus Update: Taiwan, China’s Hainan Province May See Zika Spread With Mosquito Season Starting, Scientist Says

LA Times discusses climate change and Zika and possibilities of mosquito-borne transmission in the US: Could climate change be the culprit in spread of Zika virus? - LA Times

I actually do expect at least a few mosquito-borne cases here in Texas and other Gulf Coast areas since Dengue Fever had been identified in mosquitoes here in Greater Houston in 2013. Chikungunya was also seen here in 2014 and even as far inland from the Gulf as the Austin and Dallas areas last year. And of course, that would impact Zika's sexual transmission or blood transfusion or...

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Finally taking a few moments with my local news at the end of an extremely long day, there was this:

City health lab offers 1-day Zika tests - Houston Chronicle

Looks like Houston is getting ready for mosquito season.

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Well with the amount of rain Texas has had this winter it is going to be prime breading conditions for mosquitoes.

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I agree. After last year's Memorial Day flooding and the June rains they were abundant. I'm in Brazoria County just south of the city; at times we were constantly buzzed by mosquito-spraying planes.

There's an artificial wetlands / flood control channel right behind my house. I see all sorts of things, ducks, ibises, egrets, migratory waterfowl, large turtles, snakes, possums, and of course mosquitoes and other pests.

Living here one has to fight nature on one hand, make peace with it on the other, and always be aware and keep your eyes open. That includes wonders, pests, diseases, hurricanes, tornadoes, or really anything.

~ Bob

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And don't forget Texas politicians!

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I've been meaning to post an update since I saw this on my local Houston TV news last week. The reporter included a quick flash of the CDC's recently revised map showing the estimated range of the Aedes aegypti mosquito now may cover most of the southern Continental US, from the San Francisco Bay Area, down the coast and across the Desert Southwest, as far north as somewhere near Kansas City, along the Ohio River region, then through West Virginia and Maryland to the East Coast past New York City on even into a bit of Connecticut. (See first attached image or click to view a better size; unfortunately the archaic code used on the Message Board does not allow resizing inline images.)

They include a second map for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, seldom mentioned before in publicity about Zika. Although it has a broader range than A. aegypti, the page explains it is less likely than the more well-known one to spread tropical diseases to humans.

The maps are not meant to show risk for disease, the likelihood that these mosquitoes will spread viruses, nor the numbers of locations of mosquitoes.

Quartz has more analysis of the maps, linking to a study on PLOS which attempts to model the spread of A. aegypti through the year including peak Summer months. There are many maps, including this eye-catching one based on their model comparing mosquito abundance in January and July. The size of the city-based circles is based on average monthly arrivals from countries with Zika travel advisories at the time. (See second attached image or click to see a better size.)

Because we in Greater Houston have seen cases of mosquito-borne dengue and chikungunya, local officials are preparing the public. From the local story:

Seeing the photo on NPR's Houston Prepares Now For Zika's Potential Arrival This Summer and reading their coverage of Houston's challenge, you see what we face.

I'll let you click on the NPR link to see one of the images of poverty here, similar to sections of pre-Katrina New Orleans or worse. It is stressed that besides Houston being a "gateway city" in many ways and having many mosquitoes, Zika "is a disease of poverty." We're not talking about River Oaks and the Galleria here, although even some more relatively affluent parts of the city may have open ditches instead of storm drains, not to mention a landscape full of bayous.

Similar statements and news coverage has been taking place in and about shiny sexy Miami, which also has pockets of poverty.

I was prompted to go ahead and put this on the site this evening because it was the lead story on NBC Nightly News: Zika Virus Is Scary and We Need Money to Fight It, Officials Say In this, Dr. Anthony Fauci - many of us remember him from the early HIV studies - of the NIH and Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC appeared at the daily White House briefing to bolster the Administration's request to Congress for additional funding to study and fight Zika.

And by the way, Fiji was added to the CDC's Zika Travel Information, where several other places in the Pacific Ocean appear, and Vietnam now has had at least two cases, possibly mosquito-borne. The story also mentions cases in Bangladesh, South Korea, Thailand and China.

The CDC says (from today's wording on their site), "The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections."

It is, however, not the most frequent cases, the ones with few or no symptoms, but the others that prompt public health officials, doctors, and researchers to a call to action. This includes not only, as we discussed above, the many cases of microcephaly, the far fewer cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in adults, but also evolving knowledge about how Zika affects the body.

Another story today was There's More Evidence Zika Goes Straight to the Brain, with meningitis and encephalitis previously mentioned. This one describes one study of developing brain cells affected by Zika having their growth slowed 40% and another study of patients with Zika who developed acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord described as being similar to multiple sclerosis, "but it's usually temporary - although the recovery can take months." Additional cases of GNS were also documented.

And now let's talk about sex. Today's CDC wording has this about sexual transmission of Zika:

• Zika virus can be spread by a man to his sex partners.
• In known cases of sexual transmission, the men developed Zika virus symptoms. From these cases, we know the virus can be spread when the man has symptoms, before symptoms start and after symptoms resolve.
• In one case, the virus was spread a few days before symptoms developed.
• The virus is present in semen longer than in blood.

There also was Updated Guidance for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus issued March 25 which states (among many things), "This guidance defines potential sexual exposure to Zika virus as any person who has had sex (i.e., vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, or fellatio) without a condom with a man who has traveled to or resides in an area with active Zika virus transmission."

Further down we see, "All reported cases of sexual transmission involved vaginal or anal sex with men during, shortly before onset of, or shortly after resolution of symptomatic illness consistent with Zika virus disease. It is not known whether infected men who never develop symptoms can transmit Zika virus to their sex partners. Sexual transmission of Zika virus from infected women to their sex partners has not been reported. Sexual transmission of many infections, including those caused by other viruses, is reduced by consistent and correct use of latex condoms."

And yet even further down are the CDC's "Recommendations for men and their nonpregnant sex partners.

Men and their nonpregnant sex partners (couples) who want to reduce the risk for sexual transmission of Zika virus should use condoms consistently and correctly during sex or abstain from sex. Based on expert opinion and limited but evolving information about the sexual transmission of Zika virus, the recommended duration of consistent condom use or abstinence from sex depends on whether men had confirmed infection or clinical illness consistent with Zika virus disease and whether men are residing in an area with active transmission..."

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I had seen that NBC report - I believe they said that the original estimate was infections in 12 states and they are now guessing it will be more like 30....

The biggest issue seems still to be with pregnant women but you wonder as time goes on what the long term effects will be on those exposed to it.

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Several of my HIV+ friends have had meningitis or encephalitis. Not a good thing to deal with at all...

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And yet more, the CDC catches up to Brazil about the birth defects: It's Official: Zika Virus Causes Birth Defects.

Toward the bottom of it, I see:
I searched and in a moment found Evidence of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus from the NEJM actually published on April 13. Funny how our 24-hour news cycle seems to miss things and catch up later or at a more newsworthy moment (such as the disagreement over Zika funding).

What NBC didn't go into in detail about:
If I read this correctly:

• The man was asymptomatic - no more signs of Zika - when they had sex, although he recently had been sick.
• He may have had pre-cum in her vagina but came only in her mouth.
• There's that unconfirmed "possibility" about saliva.

I'm wondering how long after Zika symptoms go away someone might still be capable of infecting someone else. I'm also wondering if Zika might remain latent in the body and have other consequences later (as jonn3 said, "long-term effects.") And I imagine researchers will look at this if they have the funds.

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It always amazes me how the health and well being of citizens always depends on having extra money laying around - but there is plenty of money to give the Andy and Barney and the Mayberry Sheriffs Department SWAT weapons...

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When I can update or replace the Message Board software, I hope it will have something equivalent to Facebook's "Like" function, although their new "Reactions" emoticons are a little bit much more me. Anyhow, I like what you said, Jonn.

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