To not understand the Zika virus risks.

[Hopefullyhopeful19]

Every website I look at says different things.

DH and I are keen to start trying for a baby but unfortunately didn’t think about the Zika virus until after we’d already booked a holiday to go to Mexico in June.

Some websites say wait a month, others say wait 6 months. Some say no unprotected sex, others don’t mention it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can explain it to me in laymans terms!

I went to Mexico when I was 12 weeks pregnant with DD (2yo) when the Zorja virus hit.
When I returned from 2 weeks in Mexico I was put onto consultant led care.
I had scans every 2/3 weeks but they could tell from the first scan that she was absolutely fine and by 30 weeks they were laughing because her head was very large and she was predicted to be 10lb (born 9lb7) but they had protocol to follow.

I would speak to a Dr. Look up what the risks are and what the affected areas are. Even two years ago when the virus hit I was told I was very low risk of actually contracting it. But I wouldn't risk it without being absolutely certain the baby was safe.
Mexico isn't going anywhere.

I went to Malaysia in summer 2017 and stupidly didn’t even realise it was a soak country, but also I wasn’t even thinking about a baby, December 2017 and I got pregnant and I was so anxious the whole way through the pregnancy until the end because of the Zika risk, I think it stays in male sperm a lot longer than in females which is why it says wait 6 months if it’s the male that has been, if it’s the female then I think it’s wait less time but you’re both going. If it was me I wouldn’t risk it for a few months, it wasn’t nice having to go through the worry!! I guess you could maybe see if any of you got bitten but then I don’t know if I would know if I got bitten as I don’t react much to bites, my husband got bitten and had a masssssssive red mark on him for a few months.

Zika, not soak!

Hi,
We went to Thailand last year when the NHS advice was to wait 6 months after travel before TTC, so I've done a lot of reading about it! It's now reduced to 3 months after last possible mosquito bite (ie. the day you come home) on the NHS website. www.nhs.uk/conditions/zika/

The confusing thing about it is that it stays in the man's system for longer than the woman's, so as you're both going, you'll have to wait the 3 months after coming back. It's also possible (they suspect at the moment) to re-infect your partner, so you should be using condoms for those 3 months to avoid you reinfecting each other. I hope this all helps?!

The advice has changed several times but I think the government website now says use protection for 3 months after coming back before trying to get pregnant.

Thank you for your replies.

So wait 3 months and use condoms after the holiday? 3 months seems ok, 6 months would’ve been tough. (I’m getting on a bit so need to get cracking!)

I wonder why there’s so much conflicting advice?

Thanks again.

Because it's a relatively new virus to be studied with relation to birth defects and it makes more sense to err on the side of caution when giving out advice.

Yes as PP said, if your partner was infected on the last day of the holiday, he could infect you for up to 3 months later.

There is a blood test that you can get privately that shows if you’ve been infected but there is limited data on how reliable it is.

Yes it was 6 months but newer research says 3 months. We’ve decided to change our honeymoon from Mexico to Crete as we don’t want to deal with any kind of risk. We’re not super careful as it is, and consequences of the risk are not ones we’re willing to take, condoms can split.

3 months seems ok, 6 months would’ve been tough.

Tougher than an affected child?

@QueenEhlana that’s quite clearly not what she’s saying

I found a paper on it online and the advice is based on people they studied who had gone to a Zika infected country and then infected their partner via sex then conceived a baby who then beame infected. It all seemed to differ from male to male how long the Zika virus stayed in their system but they were tested from the first day of symptom onset to the last day it in their system but a lot of people get symptoms delayed in many diseases (my middle child seems to harbour colds for weeks before having symptoms) so hard to know when they were actuall infected. Going to find the link, might help with your choice! As you’ve stated you feel like you’re running out of time then I think you should read as much as you can and then you can start trying at your earliest poss!
www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/95/12/17-181370/en/

(Don’t know if that’s how to link I’ve nevr done it before)

Thank you for your helpful replies/ links.

@QueenEhlana, that obviously wasn’t what I meant. I won’t be taking any risks, I’m just trying to understand them.