Photo by Christina Sturdivant
I went to the Deanwood Recreation Center on Saturday to grab my Zika survival kit because I will not just sit around helplessly at barbecues this summer, letting mosquitoes infect me. A group of knowledgeable women were handing out white plastic bags labeled FIGHT THE BITE! that carried prevention tools which the Department of Health hopes will keep me safe and protected from mosquito-borne viruses.
The department organized events in all 8 wards ahead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement of a Zika-related death in Puerto Rico—the first fatality in the United States caused by the virus. As a journalist and concerned human, I visited my local site for the first of two citywide outreach events.
DOH armed me with several things. To begin, there were reading materials.
One sheet informs me that the bite of an infected female mosquito can be itchy and annoying (yes, we follow). More importantly though, it says that bites can spread infections like dengue, chikungunya, or Zika. The sheet goes on to give tips such as eliminating standing water around homes, covering open vents and pipes, using screens on widows and doors, and using insect repellent on your person.
The next sheet is for people who are brave enough to travel to countries where infected mosquitos are known to exist. Here, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest sleeping under a mosquito bed net, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and putting bug spray on your garments because they can bite through clothes. (Great tip.)
The final sheet is for people who are brave enough to travel to countries where infected mosquitos are known to exist… while pregnant. The advice here is don’t do it. Stay home. Do not risk it. Think twice. The sheet goes on to explain that Zika can travel from a pregnant woman to her fetus. In addition, it can be spread “by a man to his sex partners,” so if you’re engaging in intercourse, take a cue from your high school sex ed teacher and wrap it up.
Photo by Christina Sturdivant
Other items in the goodie bag survival kit, in order of value, are:
- Bug spray, but not just any bug spray. It’s the good stuff. As one of the sheets explains, the best insect repellant has high percentages of these active ingredients: deet, picaridin, also known as KBR 3032, Bayrepel, and icaridin, and AR3535. The DOH-labeled bottled says to apply liberally. (Will do.)
- Mosquito Dunks, or donut shaped things that you put into water to kill young mosquito that aren’t developed enough to infect you. The dunks last for 30 days.
- Three condoms—two male, one female. When those inevitably run out, you can pick up more at one of DOH’s free condom pickup sites.
The next citywide event will take place July 16. If you can’t wait until then, you can also pick up a kit at the health department’s office.
The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert about the first confirmed Zika virus infections in Brazil last May. Since then, outbreaks have occurred in more than two dozen countries.
In December, Puerto Rico became the first U.S. jurisdiction to report local transmission of Zika virus. Up until that point, U.S. residents only became infected when traveling abroad. The Puerto Rico Health Department reported that it now has 707 confirmed cases of the virus.
And earlier this year, the World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency of international concern.
