Stopping the virus

Maya Madan, 22, lives in a brick hut in Hamid Khedi village. A few feet from her home, which is in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, is a narrow street, criss-crossed by ditches full of dirty water. The buzz of mosquitoes breeding in these pools fills the air. It does not come entirely as a surprise that several of the cases of the State’s first and India’s second Zika outbreak are from Hamid Khedi and its neighbouring hamlets. Zika is spread by the mosquito species, Aedes aegypti . It thrives in stagnant water.Even though the Zika virus only causes mild fever and symptoms such as rashes in most people, Madan has more to worry about as she is three months pregnant. The virus has been linked to birth defects in 5%-15% of children of infected mothers. Such birth defects include an abnormally small head (microcephaly), eye damage, shortened muscles and joints, and hearing damage.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/stopping-the-virus/article25582172.ece

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