Binh Duong (VNA) – The Ministry of Health has instructed the Binh Duong provincial Health Department to keep a close watch on suspected Zika virus inspections after a Zika case was detected in the southern province.
About 300 people in Thuan An town, where the Zika case was reported, received intensive medical check-ups. Blood samples of those with a fever were sent to the Ho Chi Minh City-based Pasteur Institute.
The local Health Department has also sprayed chemicals to kill larvae in the area where the first Zika case was reported.
Tu Tan Thu, an official of the provincial Health Department, said private obstetric clinics in the locality have coordinated with relevant departments and agencies to report on cases displaying symptoms relating to the Zika virus.
Earlier, a 27-year-old woman in Thuan An town, Binh Duong province, and another 28-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh City were tested positive with Zika virus. The patient in Binh Duong is now in a stable condition.
The Zika virus is transmitted to humans primarily through Aedes aegypty mosquito bites and sexual intercourse.
The symptoms of Zika infection include fever, conjunctivitis, headaches and muscle pains. Zika infection during pregnancy may lead to microcephaly in children, which is responsible for incomplete brain development and an unusually small head.
A vaccine for the Zika virus has yet to be discovered.-VNA