Medicine: Zika virus

The top medical topic of 2016 was—of course—Zika virus infection. If you are an adult, infection with the Zika virus leads to the same symptoms as the common cold, and it goes away just as quickly, in about 7 days. Not too bad. However, Zika virus infection can lead to very severe neurological deformations in unborn babies. Therefore, women who are pregnant or wish to get pregnant should know how to protect themselves and their unborn babies from the Zika virus. Avoid travelling to areas with Zika virus outbreaks. Avoid sex without a condom with a man who is infected with the Zika virus or has residence in or has travelled to areas with Zika virus outbreaks. Avoid sex without a condom for 6 months. The reason is that the virus can persist in the semen of men for months.
In addition to all this, researchers suspect that Zika virus could lead to an increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults, a form of paralysis, in areas with Zika virus outbreaks. But this is not as important as the catastrophic neurological deformations in unborn babies.