Zika virus disease expansion rate: The analysis from the first detection in Thailand

Abstract

Zika virus is a new problematic pathogen. The virus can cause acute febrile illness and can also induce unwanted teratogenic effect if it infects a pregnant subject. The outbreak of Zika virus infection is an important public health problem. Now it affects several countries around the world including those countries in tropical and non-tropical areas. The worldwide expansion of disease becomes a big health issue. In tropical area, the disease already exists and continuously expands[1]. The Zika virus infection is considered an acute denguelike illness. The disease might have the similar clinical presentations to dengue, but it can have unwanted clinical complications such as neurological disorder and teratogenic effect. The disease is widely distributed in several areas of the world at present and there is a need for disease control and management. To manage the case, early case detection and management is the basic principle. In preventive medicine, prevention of mosquito bite and safe sexual practice is generally recommended. At present, there is still no specific anitviral drug or vaccine against Zika virus for disease treatment or prophylaxis. In epidemiology, a close disease monitoring is required. The data from disease surveillance can be useful in public health and the surveillance is generally recommended for any countries. Implementation of a good surveillance system is the basic requirement. Nevertheless, how to make use of the derived surveillance data is the topic that should be discussed. At present, surveillance of Zika virus infection is done in many countries around the world but the further use of the collected data is extremely limited. There is still no specific report assessing the expansion rate of disease in affected county. Here, the authors studied on Zika virus disease expansion rate based on the analysis from ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT