US CDC issues Zika advisory for pregnant women and sex partners

NEW YORK — Pregnant women whose male sexual partners have spent time in a country with confirmed transmissions of the Zika virus should either abstain from sex or use condoms during intercourse for the duration of their pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced.

The recommendation on Wednesday (Feb 3) came a day after public health officials in Dallas reported the first case in the United States of the Zika virus being transmitted by sex. The disease, which is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, has been recorded in more than 24 countries, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Global health officials are investigating a potential link between pregnant women infected with the virus and the development of birth defects, including brain and cranial abnormalities, in their newborns.

“The potential hazard to the foetus is so substantial and so tragic that this looks like a very prudent recommendation until we learn more,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist from Vanderbilt University Medical School.

Dr. Schaffner said the CDC was being “very conservative” with its update, and that in the future the agency might make a more blanket statement for all people with sexual partners who have visited affected countries.

“Down the road this may be increased to a recommendation to be careful about sexual transmission to any woman or to another man,” he said. “But we are not there yet because that information is not yet sufficient.”

The agency’s recommendation for pregnant women and their male partners requires the proper use of a condom for vaginal, anal and oral sex for the entirety of the pregnancy. Dr. Schaffner said that because there is currently no data to explain how the disease might spread sexually, a barrier was necessary between a pregnant woman and her partner’s semen.

The agency also recommended that pregnant women should avoid travel to countries with Zika outbreaks and that women wishing to become pregnant should consult their doctors before travelling to those places.

Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, professor of medicine and public health at the University of California, Los Angeles, expressed concern that the new guidelines did not mention what measures women who are not pregnant but intend to become pregnant should take if their sexual partners live in or have travelled to a country with confirmed Zika transmissions.

“To me, that’s an obvious question that people, physicians and I would have,” Dr. Klausner said, adding that he hopes the CDC addresses that issue in future updates. “Until we get more information, I think at this time it is reasonable and consistent with best public health practice to err on the side of being conservative,” he said.

The agency said in a statement that it plans to issue further guidelines in the coming days with an emphasis on what male sexual partners of women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant should do to prevent the sexual transmission of the virus. THE NEW YORK TIMES