But after a little pushing and prodding by a nurse, Rutherford took the plunge and got tested. “They took a urine sample and two vials of blood to be tested,” she explained.
“I spent a lot of that time reading information on the internet. I was home and in bed for days. I was pretty certain that [Zika] was what I had. I looked up the symptoms for other mosquito viruses that I could have. I knew that none of them were fatal and that there wasn’t even anything that I could take, so I just gave into the fact that I was going to be sick for a while.”
Lesson? While you may be thinking “it’ll never happen to me,” in order to better protect yourself against catching the Zika virus, you must educate yourself on the signs, symptoms, and when/if traveling, where the disease is flourishing.
So what are the signs? In addition to the rash Rutherfood experienced, the below symptoms have also been linked to Zika:
- Joint pain
- Fever
- Red eyes
- Paralysis
- Birth defects in pregnant women
Meanwhile, the CDC reports there is no vaccine to prevent the ailment. However, you can treat symptoms by getting plenty of rest, drinking fluids, taking acetaminophen (Tylenol®) to reduce fever and pain, shy away from medicines like aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs “until dengue can be ruled out to reduce the risk of bleeding.”
For more information on Zika, click here.
Is It Zika? Know The Signs was originally published on blackdoctor.org
