Korean girl infected with Zika virus after returning from Vietnam

Korean health officials have just announced the fourth Zika virus in the country is a 25-year-old girl who has just returned from Vietnam.

According to Koreatimes, according to the Korea Infectious Diseases Control Center (KCDC), the girl worked in Ho Chi Minh City from April 10-30 and returned home on May 1. On May 4, she went to a hospital in Incheon to treat thyroid disease after showing fever and joint pain. Here, doctors found her infected with Zika virus.

KCDC suspects the girl may have been bitten by mosquitoes during her time in Vietnam. They are also examining a person who has been in contact with patients during April 13-17 in Vietnam. Current patient health is stable.

Dr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of Preventive Medicine Department, Ministry of Health said he received this information and is requesting investigation and clarification.

KCDC suspects the girl may have been bitten by mosquitoes during her time in Vietnam.

Earlier, in early April, Vietnam discovered the first two cases of Zika virus, including a 64-year-old woman in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa and a 33-year-old pregnant woman in District 2, HCMC. This pregnant woman then ended the pregnancy because the ultrasound results do not have a fetal heart. In late March, the World Health Organization announced Australia confirmed a case of Zika virus infection after returning from Vietnam.

In Vietnam, according to reports from the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology / Pasteur, localities, key surveillance results and in the community have not detected any new cases of Zika virus infection. According to experts, it is possible that the Zika virus feature in Vietnam belongs to the Asian sub-region, not quite the same as the sub-region of the Americas, so it does not explode into a big epidemic with rapid spread.

However, the Ministry of Health forecasts that in the coming time, it is likely to continue to record new cases of scattered diseases in some localities where high dengue epidemics are circulated. Dengue epidemic is coming soon. The whole country is applying a level of warning at the second level according to the Zika virus action plan.

Zika virus has existed for a long time, recently the most powerful outbreak is in the Americas. Zika virus is thought to be the cause of small head disease causing babies born with abnormalities, developing or deviating brain development leads to intellectual, motor and language disabilities. Mosquito-borne Zika virus, which can be transmitted through blood-to-person transmission, is not common; transmission from mother to child at birth but not through breast milk. Some studies also show that the disease is spread through sexual contact and that men can get it.