Zika testing begins at government hospital
The government-run tertiary hospital in Malé has started testing fever patients for the Zika virus as part of a surveillance programme to determine if the mosquito-borne disease is spreading in the Maldives.
03 Oct 2016, 9:00 AM
The government-run tertiary hospital in Malé has started testing patients with fever for the Zika virus as part of a programme to determine if the mosquito-borne disease is spreading in the Maldives.
Pregnant women who come in with a fever will also be tested under the Health Protection Agency’s surveillance programme, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital said in a statement on Sunday.
If infected with the virus, they could be at risk of giving birth to babies with a deformation called microcephaly, which leads to abnormally small brains and heads.
An HPA official said it has not found any cases of microcephaly in the Maldives yet, but is seeking to identify if its incidence is increasing.
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