Zika Virus in the U.S.: Pregnant Teen Talks 'Heartbreaking' Experience After Diagnosis
Over the past months, health institutions have been urging pregnant women to refrain from traveling to Zika-prone areas as the virus has been rampant and recently, an American teen tested positive of the virus.
In a recent interview with ABC News, Sara Mujica opened up about the experience and how it changed her life. "I had a fever and the rashes were just growing throughout my body," she explained.
A few days after learning that she was with child, the 17-year-old Connecticut native started showing Zika's common symptoms including rashes and fever. In February, Mujica visited her fiancé in Honduras and she believes that was the time she acquired the infection.
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Her mother informed her that she tested positive after weeks of waiting for the results. "It's really heartbreaking knowing that I got Zika. It was such hard news to take in all at once. My first thought was, 'What am I going to do?'" Mujica said.
While Zika in non-pregnant people is something that doctors treat mildly, it greatly concerns health institutions and doctors around the globe due to the risk of babies being delivered with microcephaly, a birth defect wherein a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain development problems also arise.
According to Patch News, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has also been urging the community, specifically pregnant women and those planning to conceive, to avoid traveling to Puerto Rico and other infested regions so the increasing number of cases may hopefully be halted.
Meanwhile, the Olympics is starting to feel the pressure brought upon by the infection as the Major League Baseball recently rescheduled a two-game series which was supposed to take place in Rio de Janeiro.
According to Sports Illustrated, the series was originally scheduled for Puerto Rico's Hiram Bithorn Stadium but due to the growing concern over Zika and its possible effects on players, the games have been moved.
As of last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 683 cases in Puerto Rico and it is expected that the figures will grow unless the health scare is resolved soon.
