The Zika virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected "Aedes" mosquito (also responsible for the transmission of chikungunya, dengue fever and yellow fever), but also by sexual means.
The symptoms are, for the most part, benign (pimples, fever, headache, rash, conjunctivitis), but it is now proven that the virus is the cause of many cases of microcephaly and Guillain's syndrome. Closed off.
This summer, it is therefore essential to take the right steps to protect yourself from mosquitoes in risky areas but also to guard against other cases of transmission, particularly sexual, especially when feeding a maternity project.
Dr. Marie-Claire Paty, vector surveillance coordinator of the Public Health Agency France, answers our questions on the duration of the contamination in a person carrying the virus, but also on the procedure to follow to protect his or her his partner.
What is the incubation time of the virus?
Between the moment we are bitten and the moment when the symptoms occur, there is what we call an incubation period that can last from 2 to 12-13 days.
In serum (blood fluid without cells), the virus is found for an average of 5 to 7 days after the onset of symptoms.
The contamination is confirmed by the presence of the virus in the blood.
How is the virus spread?
The virus, once installed in our blood, contaminates all mosquitoes that bite us: healthy mosquitoes that bite a person with the virus, become carriers and are likely to contaminate in turn.
This is one of the main dangers of the spread of the virus.
From 7 days after the manifestation of the symptoms, we are therefore, a priori, "more carrier in the blood, that is to say that we no longer have the risk of infecting a mosquito that we would sting and that normally there is no risk of infecting someone by blood transfusion.
The virus is found in the urine a little longer than in the blood, up to 10-15 days on average.
This has no major consequences on the retransmission.
Can we catch the virus a few times?
The first-time infected person develops antibodies to immunize and protect against a new infection.
Is sexual transmission possible?
Yes. And even though sexual transmission is less important than mosquito transmission, it is "less anecdotal than originally thought," says Dr. Claire Paty.
Especially if the transmission of the man to the woman through the sperm is proven, traces of the presence of the virus in the human semen were detected until 3 months after the contamination.
It is therefore recommended that couples refrain from having sex or to protect themselves with a condom during the 6 months following the infection.
However, you can do biological tests to see where the situation is.
And if we have a pregnancy project?
As a precaution, we advise pregnant women or those who have a very close desire for pregnancy not to go to areas at risk (if this is the case, protected sex is strongly recommended).
Finally, if you are in doubt about your own infection or that of your partner, Dr. Marie-Claire Paty strongly recommends that you consult a doctor.
