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Can Rio 2016 be cancelled due to Zika virus?


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It looks from Rio 2016's Twitter feed that they've been holding a press conference about this today, and yesterday they advised pregnant women to stay away from the Games. It's far from ideal that they have to deal with this along with everything else they have to organise.

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If this was a deadly virus then it could be up for consideration. But it's not, it's not even a virus that most people see symptoms from. It's only about a 1 in 10 chance you'll see any victims from it.

But as already mentioned there are easy solutions to the problem. The immediate one is to suggest that pregnant women or even women trying to have kids not visit the Brazil until the situation is under control. And then as someone suggested there are insect repellants available. Long sleeve shirts and pants also help as well.

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Everyone should be concerned about Zika virus, both within and outside Brazil, but this concern should be guided by the scientific knowledge of the virus and its vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, according to what scientists know about it. For men, the virus brings no problem, apart from these symptoms: fever, itching, headache, pain behind the eyes, pain in the body and joints and red spots by the body. These symptoms disappear from 4 to 7 days. Obviously these symptoms scare anyone either those who have had contact with tropical diseases, either those who haven't. It's pretty understandable that this disease scares high performance athletes before and during any competition, especially during the Olympic Games. For women athletes and the female public, the Zika virus, according to Brazilian researchers, may mean a serious additional risk, because it maight cause microcephaly in babies, if their mothers are pregnant, especially during the first 3 months of pregnancy. At least so far, the World Health Organization has not recognized the relationship between microcephaly in babies and Zica virus. Studies are still ongoing, and unfortunately a lot of time will be spent, as well as a reasonable amount of money, until one can reach a more precise knowledge about it. The imposing question is whether the government of Rio de Janeiro will be able to ensure that the necessary actions will be taken to minimize the chances of contracting the virus Zika before and during the Games. In my opinion, no. The State and the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the Federal Government in the rest of the country, have being fighting the mosquito for three decades and yet, things are as they are: 4,783 reports of suspected microcephaly and 404 notifications of confirmed cases around the country; in the state of Rio de Janeiro, from November 18, when reporting of possible infectios by Zika virus became mandatory, to December 29, 2015, the number of infections by Zika figured 1,323 cases with 12 notifications of microcephaly confimations, according to G1 Agencia O Globo, in December 30, 2015 . The Government's great ally is the fact that the competitions will happen during the Brazilian winter when the rates of mosquitoes proliferation are naturally reduced. In addition to this, all that is said is a dangerous game of Russian roulette.


Please forgive my poor English.

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They have 7 months until the Olympics, so they have more than enough time to get rid of Zika by doing an extensive fumigation campaign and encouraging people to use insect repelent.

Also, Zika is not a deadly disease, its mostly dangerous for pregnant women since its somewhat related to microcephaly. It has caused a couple of Guillian Barre syndrome cases but they're very rare. I myself contracted Zika last december and while i felt like crap for almost a week, it wasn't a crippling disease either.

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Zika isn't a bad enough problem to justify cancelling the Games, but it is a bad enough problem, and localised by its principal vector, to justify many individuals choosing not to visit affected areas until the current epidemic is brought under some sort of control. Economically, it's not good for Brazil.

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Zika isn't a bad enough problem to justify cancelling the Games, but it is a bad enough problem, and localised by its principal vector, to justify many individuals choosing not to visit affected areas until the current epidemic is brought under some sort of control. Economically, it's not good for Brazil.

It is one of the nice things about living in the North. Our mosquitoes aren't trying to give us every disease in the book. Zika is only getting any attention because of the birth defect issue. Dengue is also exploding in epidemic terms and has actually killed about 1 million in the last year.

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...would be nice to not have to worry about it. If I'm an athlete I've definitely got another distraction and protocol to distract, if I'm a tourist I'm thinking about it, if I'm a woman I'm alarmed.

I know I don't trust the Rio, Brazil, the organizing committee or the IOC to tell the truth or be in control of the issue.

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It is one of the nice things about living in the North. Our mosquitoes aren't trying to give us every disease in the book. Zika is only getting any attention because of the birth defect issue. Dengue is also exploding in epidemic terms and has actually killed about 1 million in the last year.

There are some reports coming about sexual transmission of the Zika virus, so be careful during the cold, winter nights. BTW, warmer temperatures in colder places may take mosquitoes to unusual places like Buenos Aires. WHO estimates the only countries with very low risk of zika in the Americas are Canada and Chile.

Aedes Aegypti is a well known vector of tropical diseases like Dengue and Yellow Fever. There were no cases of zika in Brazil before 2014, but foreigners during the 2014 World Cup have brought it in (thank you, gringos).

There are seasonal outrbeaks of Aedes Aegypti-related diseases (Dengue or Yellow Fever in specific regions) in Brazil and now Chikungunya and Zika were added to the list. The protocol is still the same, though: vector control.

Unlike measles outbreaks out there, zika is mostly harmless. Like Ikarus, I had it last year and developed the rash and painful arm joints for 4 days. BUT, if you're pregnant - and that's why this is scary - effects to the baby can be nasty (kinda like rubella). So no: people are not dropping dead, Carnaval starts friday, and the games will happen safely.

...would be nice to not have to worry about it. If I'm an athlete I've definitely got another distraction and protocol to distract, if I'm a tourist I'm thinking about it, if I'm a woman I'm alarmed.

I know I don't trust the Rio, Brazil, the organizing committee or the IOC to tell the truth or be in control of the issue.

Oh you... :rolleyes:

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“We welcome the action taken by the WHO to deal with this issue. We remain in close contact with them and are following their guidance. We are working with our partners in Rio on measures to deal with the pools of stagnant water around the Olympic venues, where the mosquitoes breed, to minimize the risk of visitors coming into contact with them. It is also important to note that the Rio 2016 Games will take place during the winter months of August and September, when the drier, cooler climate significantly reduces the presence of mosquitoes and therefore the risk of infection.”

Basically another way of saying "The games will take place as schedule so thanks but no thanks for the suggestion".

Also, the media always love to exagerate everything whenever there is a sickness epidemic. Remember all those people who said Ebola would spread in America? Where are they, now?

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Basically another way of saying "The games will take place as schedule so thanks but no thanks for the suggestion".

Also, the media always love to exagerate everything whenever there is a sickness epidemic. Remember all those people who said Ebola would spread in America? Where are they, now?

Still on FOX I guess.

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Opinion piece. Hardly would call that an "uh-oh."

Historian: Zika won’t stop Olympics; only war has done that

That's from David Wallechinsky, whose opinion I value a lot more than some shmo from a website about a disease that is not nearly as dangerous as it's being made out to be. It's a concern. But enough to postpone the Olympics? No way.

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