In this week's roundup of health news, we'll look at whether you need to do anything differently about your choice of bread, the place your baby sleeps, and your attitude toward mosquitoes on your holiday.
Tagged With zika
Mosquitoes aren't just annoying, they can be dangerous. Even so, before you go buying pricey clothing with built-in insect repellent, you might want to consider cheaper, and possibly more effective, options.
Nobody likes mosquitoes, but the mosquitoes sure do love us. Spraying your skin with DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus keeps them at bay, but stores are full of wristbands, candles, clothing, and other products that claim to repel bugs without those nasty "chemicals." Some of them might help, but none are reliable.
It was inevitable that cybercriminals would capitalise on the global attention on the Zika virus outbreak. Security vendor Symantec has issued a warning on a malicious spam campaign that lures people into downloading a piece of malware called JS.Downloader by claiming to have additional information on the Zika virus. Here are the details.
Zika virus, a previously obscure disease that had only caused a handful of cases in Africa and some island nations, is now a major global health concern. It's been linked with brain damage in babies, and the World Health Organisation just declared South America's Zika epidemic a public health emergency. You may not live in South America, but in today's world of global travel and fast-moving infections, let's talk about whether you need to worry.
A birth defect called microcephaly, where babies are born with extremely small brains, has affected thousands more babies than usual this year in Brazil. The culprit may be a virus called Zika, which has no vaccine, no cure and is transmitted by mosquitoes.