Miami is ‘ground zero’ for outbreak of Zika virus, doctor warns
Don’t be scared. Be informed.
That’s the message experts at Baptist Health South Florida wanted their audience to take away after an information session about the Zika virus and pregnancy Wednesday evening.
About 40 men and women attended Zika and Pregnancy: What You Need to Know at the Baptist Health Resource Center to ask questions and listen to presentations from Dr. Michael Jacobs, a reproductive endocrinologist, and Barbara Russell, director of infection control at the hospital.
Questions focused on vaccine development, when a pregnant or new mother and her child are at risk and prevention tips.
“We don’t want to scare people,” said Dr. Jason James, chairman of the hospital’s department of obstetrics and gynecology and the event’s moderator. “But our goal here is to educate people so they make appropriate choices.”
He said Miami is “ground zero” for a possible outbreak because of the tropical weather, the number of Latin American travelers and the Aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus mosquitoes that are present in South Florida.
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