- "The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) for Zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week....
- "The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
- "People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected.
- "Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week but it can be found longer in some people.
- "Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections....
- "There is no vaccine to prevent or specific medicine to treat Zika infections.
- "Treat the symptoms:
- "Get plenty of rest.
- "Drink fluids to prevent dehydration.
- "Take medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) to relieve fever and pain.
- "Do not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
- "If you are taking medicine for another medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before taking additional medication.
- "If you have Zika, prevent mosquito bites for the first week of your illness.
- "During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites.
- "An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people."
While it includes a plug for
"consistent and correct use of latex condoms," the CDC's Interim Guidelines for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of
Zika Virus — United States, 2016 is otherwise rather modest about
its knowledge:
"Infection
with Zika virus is asymptomatic in an estimated 80% of cases (2,3),
and when Zika virus does cause illness, symptoms are generally mild and
self-limited. Recent evidence suggests a possible
association between maternal Zika virus infection and adverse fetal outcomes,
such as congenital microcephaly (4,5), as well as a possible association with Guillain-Barré
syndrome....Current information about possible sexual transmission of Zika is based
on reports of three cases....Whether infected men who never develop symptoms
can transmit Zika virus to their sex partners is unknown.
Sexual transmission of Zika virus from infected women to their sex partners has not been reported....
"Men
who reside in or have traveled to an area of active Zika virus transmission who
have a pregnant partner should abstain from
sexual activity or consistently and correctly use condoms ...for the
duration of the pregnancy....
"After
infection, Zika virus might persist in semen when it is no longer detectable in
blood....
"At
this time, testing of men for the purpose of assessing risk for sexual
transmission is not recommended. As we learn more about the incidence and
duration of seminal shedding from infected men and the utility and availability
of testing in this context, recommendations to prevent sexual transmission of
Zika virus will be updated."
In our 24/7 news world, many - especially
some in the media like Paloma Garcis Overjero - seem ready to liken
Zika to Bubonic Plague! Do I even detect an unspoken misandry that
disparages the very notion that husbands can indeed "abstain from sexual
activity" during the course of their wives' pregnancy?
"Holy
Father, for several weeks there’s been a lot of concern in many Latin American
countries but also in Europe regarding the Zika virus. The greatest risk would
be for pregnant women. There is anguish. Some authorities have proposed
abortion, or else to avoiding pregnancy. As regards avoiding pregnancy, on this
issue, can the Church take into consideration the concept of 'the lesser of two
evils?'"
While the Holy Father adroitly reminded Paloma Garcis
Overjero that abortion "is a crime, an absolute evil," some of his
response seemed confusing. "….Paul VI, a great man, in a difficult
situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape….” [i]
suggests that Pope Francis was thinking about hormonal (so called)
contraceptives, when Paloma Garcis Overjero was probably talking about
condoms. In any case, I absolutely and firmly agree with the Tollefson conclusion that:
"Catholics
who accept their Church’s teaching on contraception (and others who accept
natural law arguments against it) should refrain from using contraceptives in
this case [i.e., transmission of Zika]. There can, of course, be serious
reasons to abstain from sexual intercourse, and the possibility of
maternal-fetal transmission of Zika is surely one such reason. Couples
concerned about the health of their children should give that serious
consideration and in some cases, at least, judge that abstention is the prudent
course of action" [By the way, fabulous information is available about fertility awareness / abstaining which almost seems kept
secret!].
In getting to his conclusion, Tollefson also seemed to confuse
condoms with hormonal (so-called) contraceptives, wading into the use of those hormonal
(so-called) contraceptives to treat victims of sexual assault. While he
did not mention it, I assume that he is familiar with the U.S. Conference of
Catholics Bishop's Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care
Services (5th ed.):
"36.
Compassionate and understanding care should be given to a person who is the
victim of sexual assault. Health care providers should cooperate with law
enforcement officials and offer the person psychological and spiritual support
as well as accurate medical information. A female who has been raped should be
able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault.
If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has
occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent
ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however,
to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct
effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a
fertilized ovum."
The Vatican's 2000 ''Statement on the so-called 'Morning After Pill'''
and 2008 "Dignitas Personae" (i.e., Section 23) struck
me as indicating that any use of hormonal (so-called)
contraceptives would be illicitin a Catholic hospital. Dignitas Personae certainly provides no
guidelines for any supposed "moral" use of either a interceptive
or a contragestative. Yet interpreting Dignitas Personae as calling for discontinuing
all use of hormonal (so-called) contraceptives for treating victims of sexual
assault was hastily dismissed by powerful forces, such as the Catholic Health
Association of the USA in its "Talking Points on Dignitas
Personae":
"Comments
in S 23 may raise some questions....implementation of
Directive 36 of the Ethical and Religious Directives remains unchanged.
Plan B, the medication of choice for emergency contraception does not appear to
have a post-fertilization effect, given the results of repeated scientific
studies" (A condensed version of "Talking Points on Dignitas Persona"
can be found on pages 6 and 7 of the January 2009 newsletter of the Catholic
Health Association of Minnesota.).
Use of so-called hormonal
(so-called) contraceptives has apparently continued at Catholic hospitals,
despite critiques from physicians:
- Fr. Juan Vélez is an Opus Dei priest with a doctorate in dogmatic theology and an M.D. Along with Rebecca Peck, M.D., Fr. Juan writes that "the Peoria Protocol, and other rape-based protocols should be abandoned, as use of Plan B during the critical fertile period, would not be expected to prevent ovulations in a majority of cases, and in fact, would lead to a significant possibility of post-fertilization effect" (Plan B’s Main Mechanism of Action: The Case for a Post-Fertilization Effect, Human Life International, 2013).
- Patrick Yeung Jr., M.D. and Donna Harrison, M.D. also maintain that use of Plan B in Catholic hospitals should cease (The State of the Science: Why Catholic Hospitals Should Not Dispense Plan B, Human Life International, 2013).
- As per Chris Kahlenborn, MD, Rebecca Peck, MD, CCD, and Walter B. Severs, Ph.D, FCP, "current Catholic rape protocols that allow for the dispensation of LNG-EC if the woman is determined to be in the preovulatory period, appear to be faulty and should be revised. Since the most recent medical data clearly note that LNG-EC does not effectively stop ovulation and has high potential to work via abortion when given prior to ovulation, these protocols would no longer be in compliance with Catholic teaching" (Mechanism of Action of Levonorgestral Contraception, Linacre Quarterly, 2015).
Catholic health care facilities, Catholic
health care professionals, and Catholic moral theologians should be on their
rooftops proclaiming the wonderful truth of what the Church proclaims about
marriage/family/sexuality and the fabulous information available about fertility awareness!
Isn't the use of potentially abortifacient drugs absolutely inconsistent
with the life-affirming care, which should characterize
Catholic health care facilities and Catholic health care professionals?
[i] "A controversy initially
stirred by Pope John Paul II's public opposition to abortion for victims of
rape in Bosnia-Herzegovina prompted the Vatican on Thursday to issue a highly
unusual denial that it ever permitted the use of contraceptive pills by
Catholic nuns in dangerous areas....[It was] reported that nuns working in
parts of Latin America and Africa in the 1960s and '70s used contraceptive
pills because they feared rape and pregnancy....the Vatican's deputy spokesman,
Monsignor Piero Pennacchini, said Thursday that there were 'no Vatican
documents in this regard' authorizing the use of the contraceptive pill for
nuns in dangerous areas to avoid pregnancy" (NY Times News Service, 3/5/1993). Though it had been dismissed, I recall
hearing this anecdote in 1996 from an eminent Catholic moral theologian. While
it has now resurfaced, we now know the abortifacient potential of those hormonal
(so called) contraceptives!
