Any kind of unprotected sex — vaginal, anal, oral, and even with sex toys — could spread Zika virus, U.S. health officials say. They’ve released new guidelines urging women who’ve contracted the disease to wait two months before trying to conceive a baby.
Men who get sick with Zika virus have to wait at least six months before trying to have a baby, say doctors out of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If couples are unsure if they’ve been exposed to Zika virus, they should wait at least eight weeks in general, they add.
Like dengue, West Nile and yellow fever, Zika virus is a mosquito-borne tropical disease, meaning mosquitoes transmit the disease to humans.
But it also spreads through any kind of sex, the CDC warns. As of July 20, the federal agency says 15 cases of sexually transmitted Zika have been reported.
READ MORE: These are the tell-tale symptoms of Zika virus, according to a new case study
“Women and men who reside in areas of active Zika virus transmission should talk with their health care provider about attempting conception,” it warns.
Until then, abstain from sex or use protection, they say.
Health officials in El Salvador, Brazil, Jamaica, Ecuador, Honduras and Colombia told residents to delay pregnancy until doctors better understand if the infection tampers with brain development in infants.
So far, it’s been linked to a 20-fold increase in a rare defect called microcephaly in babies, in which infants are born with irregularly small heads and underdeveloped brains.
For its part, the CDC is even urging doctors to ask all pregnant women – and their sexual partners – about a possible Zika infection at every checkup.
READ MORE: Here’s what Zika virus symptoms look like in pregnant women
In a new study published Monday, British researchers out of the universities of Oxford and Notre Dame estimated that 1.6 million childbearing women in Central and South America could get infected.
That’s based on their projections of how many people could become infected within these areas battling outbreaks of the disease.
“Because the virus may not reach each corner of this region, or may do so slowly, the total figure of 1.65 million represents an upper limit estimate for the first wave of the epidemic,” they said.
But the upcoming Summer Olympics in Brazil, which had become a hotbed for the disease, shouldn’t be a concern, experts have repeatedly said.
WATCH: The Zika virus is proving to be one of the biggest concerns for the Rio games. There are even greater concerns given the lack of funding for scientists working on tracking the virus in the country. Mike Drolet has more.
READ MORE: WHO now says women trying to conceive should abstain from sex for 8 weeks
In a “worse-case scenario,” only three to 37 athletes, tourists and journalists travelling to Rio de Janeiro could bring Zika virus back to their home countries, Yale University scientists said in new findings also published Monday.
They called the mosquito-borne virus’ threat at the global event “negligible.”
Their findings align with what the World Health Organization and CDC said earlier this month: the risk is “low.”
They say that more than half of tourists heading to Rio will return to high-income countries where it’ll be hard for the virus to take hold because of mosquito-control measures already in place.
READ MORE: Canadian pregnant women who’ve visited Zika-affected countries should see their doctor
Another 30 per cent will head back to Latin American countries where transmission is already well underway.
Keep in mind, it’s already winter in Rio so mosquito activity has subsided.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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