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Individuals should protect them- Access to laboratory testing is
selves from mosquito bites
• The community, and particularly pregnant
women and women of reproductive age,
should be educated about the risk of
transmission and how to minimize this risk
by reducing contact with mosquitoes.
• Personal preventive measures to
avoid mosquito bites include clothing
minimizing skin exposure, use of
repellents, as well as windows screens and
air conditioning. The use of insecticide-
treated bed nets is limited by the fact that
Aedes mosquitos bite during daytime.
• Eventually, economic development will
reduce mosquito-borne diseases by
improving standards of living (e.g. people
living in houses with solid floors and roofs,
window screens, and air conditioning).
MANAGING EPIDEMICS | KEY FACTS ABOUT MAJOR DEADLY DISEASES
critical for pregnant women
• Because of the association between Zika
virus infection and adverse pregnancy
and infant outcomes, it is important that
women have access to laboratory testing.
The woman (and her partner if she/he
wishes) should be offered non-directive
counselling so that she, in consultation
with her health care provider, can make a
fully informed choice about the next steps
in the management of her pregnancy.
• Laboratories should have the capacity to
test for Zika:
- Laboratory tests are done on blood
or other body fluids (e.g. urine, saliva,
semen):
o Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) during
the acute phase of the disease;
o Serological (IgM) testing and Nucleaic
Acid Tests (NAT) testing with Plaque Re-
duction Neutralization Test (PRNT). In-
fection with Zika virus is difficult to con-
firm retrospectively because serological
tests cross react with other flaviviruses,
especially Dengue virus.
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