THE Ministry of Health is again recommending that Jamaicans delay pregnancy, given what is being described by Chief Medical Officer Dr Winston De La Haye as the “clear association” between the Zika virus and microcephaly.

Speaking at a press conference to update the country on the Zika outbreak last Thursday, Dr De La Haye renewed the call for people to hold off on becoming pregnant at this time, after two pregnant women tested positive for the mosquito-borne infection.

The expectant mothers are among 16 positive cases that have been confirmed as at May 29. The ministry has advised that all 16 people have “fully recovered”.

Zika is a virus that is transmitted by an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito which spreads dengue and chikungunya.

However, only one in four people with the Zika virus will develop symptoms and pregnant women have the same risk of being infected with the virus as the rest of the population.

But what has concerned the global health community is that if a woman is infected with the Zika virus while pregnant, it may cause the birth defect microcephaly in her newborn.

Microcephaly is a condition in which an infant’s head is smaller than the heads of other children of the same age and sex. The condition is the result of the brain developing abnormally in the womb or not growing as it should after birth.

Brazil, a country which has been hard-hit by the virus since it began spreading last year, has reported a total of 7,723 suspected cases of microcephaly and other congenital malformation of the central nervous system between October 22, 2015 and May 28, 2016, according to the Pan American Health Organisation. Of that number, Brazil has confirmed 1,489 cases of microcephaly by clinical, radiological, and/or laboratory methods.

Last Thursday, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton told the media that, locally, there has been no confirmed cases of microcephaly linked to the Zika virus.

Insisting that microcephaly is not new to Jamaica, Dr Tufton disclosed that one case of the condition was recently reported. However, he said based on investigation, the case was found to be negative for Zika.

But, what is the average number of microcephaly cases Jamaica has seen in any one year?

Permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr Kevin Harvey, explained last Thursday that microcephaly is not one of the reportable conditions that have been tracked over the years.

“So we have to now be looking back, doing docket reviews to try and find out what is the average number of microcephaly cases we have had over the years, though we have had cases that we have monitored and taken care of,” he said. “So we are still in the process of determining what that number is, because we now need to establish a baseline for what occurred in the past in order to determine what we will see, if it is an increase over the previous year.”

Dr Harvey said the ministry has now established a registry to do just that.

“So we have now established a register for the collection of data on microcephaly. We are now measuring all the head circumferences of those born within our facilities and we will have that data going forward,” he said.

Having issued an advisory to delay pregnancies even before Jamaica confirmed its first case of the virus on January 29, the ministry will have to wait until the end of the nine-month pregnancy cycle before tangible data is available as to whether Jamaicans heeded the call.

Dr Harvey explained that the ministry tracks pregnancies based on the number of babies delivered. He said what would then be necessary is to track the number of deliveries nine months after the advisory was first issued.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health is also reporting that there are no confirmed cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) — a rare but potentially fatal neurological disorder — which is the other complication associated with Zika that is of concern to the global health community.

Dr Tufton said that seven cases of GBS are currently being managed — three at Spanish Town Hospital three at Kingston Public Hospital, and one at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

“Results as at June 1, 2016 showed that the patient at UHWI and two of the patients at Spanish Town Hospital are Zika-negative,” Dr Tufton shared.

He said that since the start of the year, the ministry has been “actively searching” for cases of GBS and that, so far, 13 cases have been investigated, six of which also tested negative for Zika virus infection.

However, the minister cautioned that a negative Zika test does not absolutely rule out Zika association due to the three-to-five-day window, during which it is most effective to determine whether someone is infected with the virus or not.

He said, though, that the ministry has been preparing the health sector for any increase in GBS and microcephaly while assuring that there is adequate supplies of the requisite medication to appropriately treat all forms of Zika manifestation.

In the meantime, the ministry is urging Jamaicans, including pregnant women and women of child-bearing age, to safeguard their health by protecting themselves from mosquito bites. He is also urging Jamaicans to focus on reducing mosquito-breeding sites by cleaning up surroundings.

A few tips to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes: sleep under a mosquito net; use insect repellent containing DEET; and wear light-coloured, long-sleeved clothing.