What we can do to protect South Carolina from Zika

As a public-health law expert and mother, I am truly concerned about the Zika virus and what it could do to the people of South Carolina in the next few years. The mosquito that carries the virus already lives in this state, and it is likely that we will have an outbreak of this mosquito-born illness this summer.

Recent studies have shown that as many as 29 percent of babies born to women who get infected with Zika during their pregnancy have serious birth defects. The disease is not currently treatable, and there is no vaccine. This means we must focus on public-health initiatives and personal measures to combat Zika’s negative effects. We must educate people about the risks, clean up breeding grounds for mosquitoes and provide birth control to those who do not want this risk. This is the most significant communicable public health threat I have seen since HIV.

For those who are not pregnant, the Zika virus is usually mild, though in rare cases it can lead to immune system complications such as temporary paralysis. But Zika causes serious brain damage to some infants whose mothers become infected during pregnancy. It is very rare for a virus to go from a mother to a fetus, and Zika is this rare virus. Studies so far show that we are only beginning to understand the full scope of the threat.

All homes should have air conditioning or adequate window screens so that mosquitoes cannot get inside. There are homes in South Carolina where people do not have either one, and so state and local governments need to educate people and make window screens available at no cost for those who cannot afford them.

The mosquito that carries Zika is not the type of mosquito that can be easily killed by spraying insecticide in the air. It can breed in extremely small amounts of water, which need to be found. This is where our community can excel, with volunteer groups helping to control over-grown areas, cleaning up trash such as old tires and plastic containers, and helping people seal their homes so that mosquitoes cannot get inside.

Anyone who is considering becoming or is pregnant must protect herself from being bitten by mosquitoes as best she can. Zika can be transmitted sexually from men to women, and so men must use a condom for any sexual contact with a woman who is pregnant. Finally, people need to use mosquito repellant.

If the risks of pregnancy and Zika are as high as some studies suggest, the risk/benefit analysis of pregnancy is about to drastically change in areas where Zika is widespread, at least until a treatment or vaccine is discovered.

Realistically, even if many people decide to delay pregnancy until the risks of Zika are better understood, we still have tens of thousands of unintended pregnancies every year in this state alone. What we do heading into this summer can determine the health and well being of thousands of children in the future.

Public-health education campaigns have had a positive effect on Zika and pregnancy in Brazil, but the positive effects seem to be highest for those who have access to birth control and air conditioning and can leave the country during mosquito season. Poorer people are still at great risk.

Knowing this, state and local legislators and public-health officials in South Carolina need to identify people similarly at risk here, address these inequalities and make sure that we are doing our utmost to protect our state until this virus is controlled.

We need to be informed and pro-active so we can try to slow the spread of this virus and limit misplaced hysteria and misinformation.

The only weapons we currently have for fighting Zika are birth control, air conditioners and window screens, rigorous clean ups of breeding areas and bug spray. We need to use everything we have so that South Carolina suffers as little as possible until a cure is found.