There is no specific treatment for the disease.

Zika virus disease is usually mild, and regardless of age, treatment comes down to rest, staying hydrated, and taking painkillers if needed. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is preferred, anti-inflammatory drugs having no indication in this case and aspirin being contraindicated, the possible coexistence with the dengue virus exposing the risk of bleeding.

Can the disease be prevented?

– There is no vaccine against the disease

– The best prevention is to protect yourself from mosquito bites, individually and collectively.

The number of mosquitoes and their larvae should be reduced by emptying all containers with water. The health authorities can spray insecticides.

On an individual level, it is essential for residents and travelers to protect themselves against mosquito bites, protection that is all the more strict for pregnant women (cf. Health Passport sheet (http://www.passeportsante.net /fr/Actualites/Entrevues/Fiche.aspx?doc=entrevues-moustiques).

– People showing signs of Zika should also protect themselves against mosquito bites to avoid contaminating other mosquitoes and therefore spreading the virus.

– In France, the Ministry of Health recommends that pregnant women avoid going to an area affected by the epidemic. 

– The American, British and Irish authorities, because of the possible possibility of sexual transmission, advise men returning from an epidemic area to use a condom before sexual intercourse. The CNGOF (French National Professional Obstetric Gynecology Council) also recommends the wearing of a condom by companions of pregnant women or women of childbearing age living in an affected area or when the companion is potentially infected with Zika.

– The Biomedicine Agency has asked to defer sperm donations and medically assisted procreation (AMP) in the departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana as well as in the month following the return from a stay in an epidemic zone.

Many questions still need to be answered about this virus, such as the incubation period, the duration of persistence in the body, and research continues on possible treatments and vaccines, as well as the establishment of more diagnostic tests. precise. This means that data can rapidly evolve on this subject, which was still little known to the general public a short time ago.