This Week in Zika: CV Symptoms Observed in Adults with Zika

— Also, CDC adds travel advisory for four new countries

MedpageToday

Heart failure and atrial fibrillation might be complications to expect from Zika virus, although how common remains unclear, according to a prospective observation study from multiple centers involved in treating the outbreak in Venezuela.

Among nine confirmed Zika-infected individuals who exhibited new-onset cardiovascular symptoms within 2 weeks of the initial infection, eight had arrhythmia detected and six had heart failure, Karina Gonzalez Carta, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reported at a press briefing in advance of her presentation at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Washington, D.C., next week.

The arrhythmias were acute in three cases (two paroxysmal, one persistent), with non-sustained atrial tachycardia in two and ventricular arrhythmias in two. Of the six cases diagnosed with heart failure, five had low ejection fraction. The patient with preserved ejection fraction was pregnant and had preeclampsia and moderate-to-severe pericardial effusion.

CDC, WHO Update Advisories

Today, the CDC added interim travel advisories to four additional countries: Angola and Guinea-Bissau (both on the western coast of Africa), Maldives (in south Asia in the Indian Ocean), and the Solomon Islands (in the South Pacific).

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization released an updated Zika virus Situation Report. Since February 1, Mexico and Saint Martin (in the Caribbean) reported their first cases of microcephaly and other central nervous system malformations related to congenital Zika virus, and the island nations of Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean reported their first cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with Zika.

The WHO also announced that it will not issue further situation reports of this type, now that it appears that Zika is not a transient phenomenon. The organization will now be tracking countries at risk for Zika virus -- i.e., that have Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, but no documented cases of Zika yet.

Effective Contraception Will Be Essential To Combating Zika

Clinicians treating patients in Mexico, Texas, and Puerto Rico each face unique challenges in helping their patients gain access to contraception, researchers said. Writing in Obstetrics and Gynecology, they said that Mexico has yet to address family planning initiatives that can assist women in preventing pregnancy -- instead choosing to focus solely on vector control. The team highlighted the dismantling of public funding for family planning services in Texas, which has made it more difficult for poorer and minority populations to access contraception. Finally, the researchers discussed the CDC initiative in Puerto Rico, the Zika Contraception Access Network, which has been a successful intervention in getting contraception to populations at risk for local transmission of Zika.

Zika Infection: '10 Months of Hell' (Motherboard)

For most people, worries around Zika virus infection involve pregnancy and birth defects. However, a new Canadian study of Zika-infected travelers found that many suffered severe complications in the absence of pregnancy, reported Motherboard.

Researchers analyzed medical records from over 1,000 Canadian travelers. One-tenth of those diagnosed with Zika experienced severe complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, compared with none for dengue.

The new study, which appeared in CMAJ, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, highlights the gap in knowledge for physicians and the general public about the Zika virus, the authors suggested.