Zika exposure… have we waited long enough?!

[Superstorefan123]

Hi everyone - first time poster looking to conceive soon :)

Looking for some advice and can’t find anything online. I have recently returned from holiday in a place with a zika risk (South America) and understand the advice is to wait 3 months before conceiving.

I am happy to wait the period but have just worked out I’ll be ovulating at 12 weeks exactly post exposure :( would you consider 12 weeks to be 3 months?! Really don’t want to wait an extra month as I ovulate quite infrequently, but equally don’t want to take a risk!

Also any info about zika/others experiences also greatly appreciated… I’m pretty sure I’m being overly cautious as I’m not sure zika is even a thing anymore but trying to work out if I should be waiting 12 or 13 weeks.

Many thanks in advance!

12 weeks is fine. I think that’s just for men anyway. The longest period for finding live virus in sperm was 69 days. So you should be fine.
I waited 12 weeks I think from partner coming back from Ecuador. Was being totally over cautious as there’s no actual outbreak there but nhs said there was a risk…
From www.cdc.gov/zika/hc-providers/clinical-guidance/sexualtransmission.html

It’s just two months for female partner if she is exposed

@Queenoftheashes thank you so much that is really reassuring! My partner travelled with me so it is the male risk, but I think 12 weeks feels pretty cautious! Yay!

Considering it says at least 3 months, and actually I'm sure it used to be 6 for men, if I were you I would give it one extra month. Might just be me being over cautious though! Some places sell zika tests to see if were were infected, in case you are really eager to get going now- we considered this when TTC was taking ages and we wanted to get on with our lives

@bertieb7 yep that’s my worry :( tests are super expensive so might look into that! Thanks :)

The tests aren’t reliable… I did look into it.
Although it used to be six months, more studies carried out now. As 69 days is the longest they found potentially live virus in sperm (usually shorter period) 12 weeks already well covers you for any risk.

@Queenoftheashes honestly so confusing and such conflicting advice but yes the consensus does seem to be 3 months now which is good! Thanks for the input :).

Honestly hoping for a late ovulation for literally the first time ever

I'd take another month. How do you know you'll be ovulating at twelve weeks exactly? Are you racing against your biological clock? There's no guarantee you'd conceive on the first cycle anyway.

Have either of you had any symptoms? I got pregnant during a holiday to a Zika risk area and we'd had all the symptoms between us (plus I'd been bitten over 50 times).
There's a test available for women but we found the NHS absolutely useless. My GP refused to perform the blood test as it wasn't on the drop-down list of blood tests. My DP's GP said all they have to do is request 'other' and state what it is, but my GP refused. Luckily I had a midwife who had encountered Zika exposure before and got me a consultant (they refused initially but she argued that there shouldn't be any differences in the care provided to me that the other woman got).

Another problem I encountered was that Zika is no longer an exciting new thing that doctors talk about. My consultant couldn't find the paperwork they'd been issued when Zika was flavour of the month so they didn't know what to do. There was quite straightforward info on the nhs website at the time but they didn't follow any of it.

As far as I remember you can't tell via scan until the late second or third trimester whether there has been any Zika related issues to the head and with some other less prominent issues it could take years to be noticeable. Our DD was born healthy after we spent the whole pregnancy terrified that there would be issues.

@Sweepingeyelashes you’re totally right periods very irregular so could be later than that but going on the fact I just ovulated to guess!

I think I was just keen as I have such irregular periods waiting an extra week could actually mean waiting an extra two months but you might be right it’s not worth the risk :( I’ll try and be patient! Think I’m just an overexcited first time trier

@PissedOffNeighbour22 nope no symptoms and hardly any bites but travelled to Peru so feeling a bit cautious! Though I don’t actually think anywhere has active transmission?

So pleased it worked out for you! Though can see how it would have been really stressful to go through :(