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    Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the SnarkJoanna Rothkopf
    2/12/16 6:42pm

    The media (including sites like this one) are eating up Zika like every other disease (can’t wait for another Spanish Flu!!), but the fact is that there’s a lot of variables at play here, and the CDC and WHO have yet to fully determine cause and effect.

    It’s not unreasonable to take precautions against mosquito bites. EVER. Even if you get vaccinated against various diseases and take antimalarials, Dengue and West Nile remain risks. It’s always good advice to avoid skeeters.

    That said, the coverage of Zika without the accompanying solid scientific evidence either way is typical. That’s not to say the link isn’t likely: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hea..., but at the same time, no specific case right now can be linked to Zika.

    It would be nice if, instead of panicking about what will happen to poor traveling Westerners, more people would donate to anti-mosquito campaigns: http://time.com/4209209/gates-.... But the solution is so much less sexy than the panic over the problem.

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      fortheloveofbeetsAri Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snark
      2/12/16 6:46pm

      ... and work on making contraception, abortion, and reproductive education more accessible to all women. And making pregnancy prevention something that men as well as women are recognized as being responsible for.

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      Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snarkfortheloveofbeets
      2/12/16 6:52pm

      Getting rid of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases also gets rid of Dengue, malaria (probably the deadliest disease today: http://malaria.jhsph.edu/about_malaria/), and a host of other illnesses. It remains one of the greatest areas of benefit for the poor in the world.

      Furthermore, by tying solutions to these issues to cultural mores, we always run the risk of diluting the message in countries where governments and populations are already rightfully skeptical of Western motives.

      I’m absolutely all in favor of reproductive rights, but for women who WANTED to have kids and then contracted Zika, it’s not like access to contraception was a fix. And telling an entire country to just stop having kids for 2+ years while a vaccine is made is unrealistic. We can do both, but the fact is that eradicating or at least mitigating the disease is the only path forward.

      I’m in favor of women who contract Zika while pregnant to have access to ultrasounds and abortions if the fetus is shown to be unhealthy. I’m even MORE in favor of women not having to even suffer through that experience in the first place.

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    bonjour tristesseJoanna Rothkopf
    2/12/16 6:07pm

    So, between the Zika virus and ever increasing anti abortion legislation (Hello, Kentucky!), I am beyond worried about the impending intersection of the two. Like, will this force people to reconsider restrictive access to abortion? Or will we begin forcing women to carry non-viable pregnancies to term?

    I’m going to cry into a glass of wine now. Make that a bottle, actually.

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      Heidi Holebonjour tristesse
      2/12/16 6:22pm

      The thing about totalitarian or authoritarian societies (patriarchal societies included) is that they can easily change the argument to suit their needs. Look at what’s happening in lots of these countries affected by Zika in Latin America- leadership are telling women to get on birth control, which isn’t exactly a popular Catholic policy.

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      Isonoxbonjour tristesse
      2/12/16 6:29pm

      I hope for the former, but assume the latter.

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    BoBannaJoanna Rothkopf
    2/12/16 6:14pm
    “urged individuals to take precautions to avoid contracting or transmitting the virus”

    As if pregnant women don’t already have a laundry list of things to avoid (some of which are genuinely harmful and some of which are fictions generated by the Mommy Police), now they have to feel responsible for curtailing travel/staying indoors/coating themselves with DEET whenever a mosquito might be present. I hope the silver lining of this epidemiological storm cloud includes wider support for OTC birth control and abortion on demand.

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      BerndBoBanna
      2/12/16 6:27pm

      Then we need to have a conversation about the pro/cons of spraying pesticide in yourself in excess while pregnant.

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      Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the SnarkBoBanna
      2/12/16 6:30pm

      I mean, the WHO’s job is to dole out health advice. What else are they supposed to say?

      And honestly, is it unreasonable for people to be given proper risk evaluation/mitigation strategies in the case of risks and unknowns? The WHO is not supposed to be arguing about the politics of it all, just the health implications.

      It’s not unreasonable, and it’s hardly placing blame on women who are at risk.

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    BlanksheetJoanna Rothkopf
    2/12/16 7:57pm

    Who’s up for a worldwide mosquito genocide?

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      PoodletimeBlanksheet
      2/12/16 8:10pm

      Day-flying mosquitoes only, please.

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      picklesandbeetsPoodletime
      2/12/16 9:14pm

      Nope, I’m good with taking them all out.

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    reflectioneternalJoanna Rothkopf
    2/12/16 8:41pm

    There are some reports stating that perhaps pesticides in the water of those born with microcephaly are a more likely cause than the virus itself. Apparently Colombia is reporting several cases of new borns/mothers found to be infected with Zika with none of the babies having been born with microcephaly

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      picklesandbeetsreflectioneternal
      2/12/16 9:15pm

      Then what explains that this was originally seen a couple of years ago on South Pacific Islands and again related to Zika?

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      reflectioneternalpicklesandbeets
      2/12/16 9:30pm

      I’ll admit I had not heard of other cases prior to Brazil. There isn’t a lot of good scientific literature out there right now, even Pubmed has very few entries. As of now I am only seeing correlation, but that is a good starting point because why place more potential mothers at risk. Therfore I am still willing to keep an open mind to any new etiologies that are presented.

      ETA: In regards to the South Pacific, are you referring to outbreaks of the virus or an increase in the incidence of new borns with microcephaly linked to the virus? I did see papers referring to the outbreak in 2013-2014, but nothing as far as it being linked with cases of microcephaly.

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    rslwnJoanna Rothkopf
    2/12/16 6:10pm

    ... well, add “take pregnancy test” to my pre-vacation to-do list. These poor women.

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      Kris-the-Needlessly-DefiantJoanna Rothkopf
      2/12/16 6:10pm

      So sorry for these women. I hope against hope they are not blaming themselves.

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        q`TzalJoanna Rothkopf
        2/12/16 6:14pm

        I expect that demand for abortion services will spike everywhere despite political hostility and that miscarriages will see a spike in strongly anti-woman states (not pro-life).

        We should really expect to see kangaroo courts dispensing evangelical sharia law assuming guilt before innocence in all of these upcoming miscarriages.

        They’ll insist that the women must PROVE that they didn’t self-abort.

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          almichq`Tzal
          2/12/16 6:17pm

          Zika relationship with fetal abnormalities is not yet definitive, after a more careful study most of the cases in Brazil were not causes by Zika, this di

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          q`Tzalalmich
          2/12/16 6:30pm

          I’m not making a medical nor scientific judgment but a political prediction of what will happen in anti-abortion anti-woman US states.

          In places and times where professional medical abortion services are not available it is common to see miscarriages taking up some of that slack. Pregnant women get desperate and if Zika is anywhere in their region they are likely to assume the worst. It doesn’t matter if the medical evidence isn’t conclusive, many women will panic.

          ESPECIALLY in the lowest income communities of the Deep South which just so happens to have a confluence of the warmest mosquito friendly climate, anti-woman political climate and the poorest of America’s towns, counties, cities and states.

          The places in America most anti-abortion are those that will need it most and will restrict it most harshly.

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        killaryclintonJoanna Rothkopf
        2/12/16 6:20pm

        Kind of a misleading headline when the article then goes on to say “The exact cause of the miscarriages, however, weren’t necessarily Zika” and “Whether it was caused by Zika remains to be determined.”

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          Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snarkkillaryclinton
          2/12/16 6:44pm

          That would be way less interesting as we collectively lose our shit over Zika.

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        bitcholaporvidaJoanna Rothkopf
        2/13/16 10:57am

        Cue the “We don’t need to make abortions available to pregnant women suffering from Zika. This proves that the body can reject an unviable pregnancy all on its own. It’s God’s will” crazies.

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