Zika: How safe is India?
Zika virus, which originated from a forest in Uganda, has affected countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Most people infected with Zika are asymptomatic and present with clinical manifestations ranging from mild fever to severe neurological disorders. Recent outbreaks in Southeast Asian countries, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant woman to avoid nonessential traveling to 11 Asian countries. Reports about the sexual transmission route of Zika have pushed the World Health Organization to declare it a 'public health emergency'. Having this current warning status, it has become mandatory to consider where second highly populated country India stands in terms of spreading awareness and taking precautionary measures against the Zika virus infection. Therefore, this paper aims to highlight the importance of Zika in Indian population by considering several indicators such as the population size and ratio, rates of mortality, closely related diseases, government initiatives, and other micro-level factors which are prone to Zika effects.
School of Biosciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
C George Priya
CG
Doss
School of Biosciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
R
R
Siva
VIT-BS, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
B Prabhu
BP
Christopher
Department of Bioinformatics, School of Computer and Information Sciences, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201310, India.
Chiranjib
C
Chakraborty
Integrated Bioinformedicine and Translational Science, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, China. hlzhu@hkbu.edu.hk.
Hailong
H
Zhu
D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control
India; Preventive measures; Zika virus