Dr. José Cordero, PROTECT Co-Director and leader of the Human Subjects and Sampling Core, appeared on NPR’s “Here & Now” on February 3rd to discuss Puerto Rico’s efforts against the spread of the Zika virus. Listen to the segment below, or visit this website to learn more.
Zika is a tropical disease transmitted by mosquitos that typically causes only mild flu-like symptoms in its hosts. However, the virus has been implicated in Brazil’s sudden spike of newborn microcephaly cases in 2015 (from 146 cases in 2014 to nearly 4,000 in 2015). Microcephaly is a rare condition, occurring in about 2 per 10,000 livebirths, in which an infant’s head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age. The condition is linked to severe developmental delays and life-long disability.
In early January, Puerto Rico confirmed the first case of Zika contracted domestically. Since then, nineteen cases have been confirmed. PROTECT and CRECE have coordinated two major education events in Puerto Rico on February 11th and 18th, and have taken measures to ensure participants are informed about Zika. Read more about these efforts here.