Indonesia is among countries most vulnerable
to the spread of the Zika virus in Asia and Africa according to a study
published Thursday by The Lancet medical journal on its website.
The researchers identified countries with
high numbers of travelers arriving from Zika virus-affected areas of the
Americas from Dec. 1, 2014 to Nov. 30, 2015, those with large populations at
risk of the mosquito-borne Zika virus infection — countries which are hot and
humid, a potential breeding ground of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the main
carrier of the virus — and countries with low health expenditures per capita
compared to their population size.
Based on these factors the researchers said,
“we found that India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Pakistan
and Bangladesh have some of the highest expected risks for Zika virus
importation and population health impact”.
“As the Zika virus epidemic in the Americas
intensifies and expands, hundreds, and possibly thousands, of infected
travelers are now transporting the virus to distant regions of the world,” the
report said.
Despite China’s population as the world’s
largest, its health expenditure per capita was larger than other high risk
countries, said the report of the study funded by the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Singapore, the most advanced country in
Southeast Asia, was not mentioned, where as of Friday confirmed cases of Zika
infection reached 190, though dozens of patients have recovered.
Kamran Khan, one of the study’s authors and
an infectious-disease physician and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in
Toronto, said, as quoted by The Washington Post on Thursday, “Our broader
purpose was to provide a look ahead to some of the next frontiers [where there
has been little attention to Zika].”
“If you’re thinking about how to use
resources, here are the places and times where you would want to use resources
in the most efficient ways possible.”
The study was conducted at a time when world alarm
on the Zika virus focused particularly on Brazil ahead of the recently
concluded Olympic Games and the rest of the Americas. Confirmation of Zika
infection in Singapore triggered worldwide alarm. Some 2.6 billion people live
in Asia and the Pacific in dense tropical areas and lacked medical resources.
Meanwhile agencies quoted the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) emergency committee statements that “there should be no
general restrictions on travel and trade with countries with Zika transmission
including Brazilian cities hosting the Paralympic Games”. Many countries
including Indonesia have issued travel advisories to Singapore.
The Zika infection is known to be mild for
adults but is potential dangerous for fetuses, potentially causing abnormal small
heads and brain defects. However reports cited experts saying pregnant women
need check ups only if they show the main symptoms including a high fever and
rashes.
The WHO committee also stressed that the
virus “continues to be an international health emergency due to continuing
geographic expansion and considerable gaps in understanding [issues surrounding
the virus]”.
Meanwhile, The Star reported from Petaling Jaya
in Malaysia that its citizen who became infected in Singapore was recuperating
in hospital.
The husband and wife had visited their
daughter in Singapore on Aug. 19 and returned on Aug 21. A week later, the
woman developed rashes and a fever, and her urine tested positive for the Zika
virus.
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