Ttc + Thailand = Zika Virus + No baby

Thanks @CandyMelts that’s what I was thinking... Will check with GP when getting mirena removed and be careful. Yes @24Juniper lots of holiday destinations are out! We are having to plan our honeymoon around not making same mistake twice in one year (holiday in Caribbean a month ago).

I'd heard the private tests are pointless as if it's got into the semen, which is the main concern, then it won't show in the blood.
Private ivf clinics don't accept the blood test and make men wait 6 months...

@Cyberworrier I was looking at Thailand this year and there is still a risk of zika there. Lots of places still have the risk including the Maldives but Mauritius is zika free as is Florida and also Sri Lanka. We passed on a really good deal to Thailand last year and regret it as I'm still not pregnant so if we were to go, we would opt for private blood tests when we got back.

Hello everyone, first time poster here- I was wondering if anyone had up to date information about private Zika tests, how reliable they are, etc?
@ConfusedWannaBeMum how did you get along? Info on web is so confusing isn’t it? I am early thirties, wanting to get mirena coil removed as also have PCOS and no idea how long cycles will take to come back. DP and I went to moderate risk place on holiday a month ago. Wouldn’t mind waiting ttc for six months, but would rather get going sooner!

@MyKingdomForBrie Thank you. DP says he wasn't bitten. It was a work trip so he spent most of his time in hotels or offices. I'll mention it to my midwife when I next have an appointment. Will have had the abnormality scan by then so will have an idea if there are any concerns.

carrington tell your midwife, they should put you down for extra growth scans from about week 26. Some anomalies would have shown on the scan at 12 weeks but microencephaly wouldn’t have shown yet. The risks are tiny even if he was infected so do try not to worry.

My DH and I were in Brazil in a high risk area and were bitten repeatedly, we conceived two weeks later, just before the news about zika broke. I had the growth scans, dd is totally fine.

Also the symptoms were really slow onset. I thought it was the food causing me to be ill as I couldn't keep much down, smells was causing me to be sick and I felt fatigue, which I also put down to the diet (I also took a pregnancy test as I felt pregnant). I kept on travelling for two weeks before I became bedbound for three days, somewhat recovered enough to get myself on a plane but was still ill for another couple of weeks. The fatigue and joint pain lasted a few more months. Everything else was eliminated and I was recommended the implant when I finally got back to the UK.

There was no reported cases of zika where I was travelling in Mexico but Mexican's don't attract mosquitos like westerners. I was covered in zeet and stayed in air conditioned accommodation but was still covered in bites.

I reckon I had Zikka last year after travelling around Mexico. I felt like I had the flu (disoriented/cold sweats/couldn't keep fluids down/everything hurt). The only difference I felt was that I was able to get myself on a plane to America whereas when I had the flu I couldn't move at all.

I got to America, and as I had the symptoms for over a week I was told there was little point in testing as the virus wouldn't show. So if you're going away for more than a couple of weeks you can't rely on getting tested and taking it from there.

My advice would be to try and get as much money back from the holiday as possible and just put it towards the house. In reality there's fuck all about Zika, a lot more than when I was going away, but fuck all. Really not worth the risk.

Frowning so if we wait 8 weeks and DH gets tested I don't necessarily have to? That would be good as he works in London and could get it done fairly easily.

Caring, I'm really sorry if this worried you. I don't have any advice but hope someone else comes along soon.

Panicking after reading this thread as DP went to Thailand in August and I got pregnant the week after he returned. Am now 16 weeks. I had no idea that Thailand had the virus and neither did DP.

What risks should I be aware of? Would potential issues have been highlighted in the usual blood tests I had at the booking in appointment at 8 weeks, or at the 12 week dating scan? We have our 20 week abnormality scan at the end of January - should I be prepared for potential bad news as a result of the virus? Help!

Thanks for your response. We're going to Mexico so it says 'moderate risks'.

I'm now in my 30s and my periods are extremely irregular. Tests for PCOS at the moment actually. So I'm worried about delaying if it's not necessary.

I'm sorry to hear you're still trying.

My DH had the tests and we waited 8 weeks so I didn't need to. No test is 100% though. We were very cautious while away and neither of us got bitten as far as we were aware and we went to a relatively low risk area with an intensive mosquito clearance programme.
Still not pregnant though several months later so needn't have bothered
I think if it has been a higher risk area and we'd been bitten we might have waited longer despite the test to be honest.

Can I lease resurrect this thread?

I just wondered whether any of You actually ended up having the tests? I've done a bit of research about the tests but it's all a bit confusing
We'd rather get a test than wait six months if possible but iknnot sure how good the tests are.

We are due to go to Mexico in October. I have been up and down as to whether I'd like to have a third baby. We had IVF previously so I have some embryos in freezer. Obviously I don't need DH for another transfer, so anyone know how long I'd need to wait myself, if I did decide to have another baby? I do plan to use all the deet precautions as well. Also, another thought came into my mind about Zikka. My DD is 7, what if she was infected, would this impact her years later when she's ready for a baby of her own?

Yes apparently Virgin travel and Kuoni do. It will be purely a discretionary thing to create good PR for them. Guess it may depend how much notice you give and what £ they would lose.

minipie that's interesting. I've read that some insurance companies have allowed refunds/to change holiday destination if you had a letter from your doctor to say that you were pregnant. I didn't realise that some travel companies are allowing people to change their destination if they're TTC...

Just FYI there are a few travel companies out there who will let you change your destination or delay your trip if you are TTC and going somewhere with Zika. Not all of them but it's always worth asking.

You can't be sure you've not been bitten, i don't react to any bites but that doesn't mean i've not been bitten, just that i don't react when i am!

No sprays are 100% either, i've spent my life trying to find a spray that keeps midges & flys off of the horses and it's a lost cause haha

arbrighton I didn't realise that it would be such a lengthy process to check, obviously haven't read up/understood as much as I thought I had!

HbH that's really good to know, thank you anyone I've asked seems to give me the 'of course you'll know if you've been bitten ' look, but that just seemed too easy!

I guess we'll just have to weigh up how soon we want to TTC, with whether we feel it's worth paying for the private tests.

I didn't get bitten & when we went for the test i asked whether they recommended the test or not. Of course they did! I was slightly sceptical at first because a small part of me thought of course they're going to say that to get the extra hundred + pounds. But she did say you might not know youve been bitten, there isn't always the mark or itchyness. Having done so much research on the risks (and what is still unknown) i went for it without a second thought!

There are potentially other neural tube defects with Zika that could be picked up earlier on but microcephaly seems to need the later growth scans. Certainly wasn't down for those til I mentioned the Z word...

no as it's the growth of the head in proportion to everything else that matters. And it seems microcephaly can still develop even after birth if it appears normal up til then.

Consultant was sure we were tracking head circumference centile in comparison with everything else and we can't conclude anything til i've had all the extra scans.

They wouldn't do them if there was no point- NHS, cash strapped etcetc

arbrighton surely if there was a problem with Zika it would have been picked up on already at one of your scans? From what I've read it's fairly obvious at the earlier scans, so I'm sure your little one will be ok :)

I'm just think if my DP and I use DEET, and are vigilant with covering up, and I make it home with no itchy spots, can I assume that I haven't transmitted it and I'm ok to TTC?

Goodolddays

I don't usually get bitten, husband usually does, which was why I was surprised to have the itchy spots during our trip. I hadn't seen/ felt that many mossies so hadn't doused myself in DEET till it was too late.

Just hoping that laws of probability, and the fact it's just a correlation rather than confirmed cause, mean that bean is ok