Watch out, lovebirds. Zika might be taking some new avenues for its transmission.
Scientists believe the Zika virus can be transmitted through oral sex and, potentially, through kissing. This information was addressed in a letter to the editor written to The New England Journal of Medicine.
In the letter, scientists cited multiple cases, but they pointed to a specific case where a 46-year-old carrier returned to France from Rio DeJaneiro, had sex with his partner multiple times and transmitted the virus through vaginal and oral sex. The 46-year-old man had heavy traces of the virus in his semen and urine, but none in his blood and saliva. His 24-year-old partner, though, did show traces of Zika in her blood and saliva, with no traces of it in her semen or urine.
And in regards to transmission through kissing, Dr. Brooks from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that “it is highly unlikely.”
Bottom line, keep yourself updated on this virus and take some basic precautions when things start to get steamy.
[H/T The New York Times]