CDC Updates Zika Guidelines for Pregnant Women

CDC Updates Zika Guidelines for Pregnant Women

Any sex partner, male or female, has potential to pass the virus on, agency says

WebMD News from HealthDay

By HealthDay staff

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, July 25, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials on Monday updated their Zika virus guidelines, saying that pregnant women could contract Zika from a sex partner of either gender.

The virus can cause serious birth defects including microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.

The new update follows news last week of the first recorded female-to-male transmission of the virus during sex.

While mosquitoes are by far the most common form of transmission, cases of sexual transmission can occur, either male-to-female, female-to-male or female-to-female.

For that reason, experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the new guidelines "include the possibility of sexual transmission from an infected woman."

"CDC recommends that all pregnant women with sex partners (male or female), who live in or traveled to an area with Zika, use condoms during sex or abstain from sex for the remainder of their pregnancy," the agency said.

"Sex includes vaginal, anal and oral sex, and may also include the sharing of sex toys," the CDC clarified.

These precautions now include either straight or lesbian couples where one partner could pass the virus on to her pregnant partner.

Any pregnant woman who suspects that she may have been exposed to Zika -- either through a mosquito bite or sexual contact with an infected person -- should also be tested for the virus, the agency stressed.

The CDC also pointed out that "new information has indicated that some infected pregnant women can have evidence of Zika virus in their blood for longer than the previously recommended seven-day window."

Because of that new data, the agency now recommends that the time frame for blood testing for Zika be lengthened to 14 days.

The vast majority of cases of Zika infection and associated microcephaly have occurred in Latin America, especially Brazil, where thousands of cases have been reported.

However, Zika may be making inroads into the United States. Late last week, Florida health officials said they were investigating a second possible case of locally transmitted Zika infection.

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