Student recalls encounter with Zika virus

When JennaBeth Brittain, junior in communication disorders, began to feel achy and fatigued, she wasn't sure what was happening.

She had just returned from a mission trip to Haiti in early January where she and her friends were bitten by many mosquitoes. 

Her doctors also didn't know what she had, because they had never seen the Zika virus before.

"They told me that if I didn't get worse and I didn't get a fever, then I had Zika, and then if I got worse and I did get a fever, then I had Dengue Fever," Brittain said. 

At first, she thought it could be mono, but knew it was Zika when the rash appeared. 

"I developed the rash the day before I went to go spend the weekend with my boyfriend's family," Brittain said. "It was very bright and blotchy red. But I was still able to go. ... I was there when I got the joint pain. It just kind of hurt to move, but I could still function. It just wasn't fun."

In total, six Auburn students contracted Zika on the trip, Brittain said. 

Symptoms typically include joint pain, fever, rash and conjunctivitis, with muscle pain and headaches occurring sometimes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. One in five people with the virus develop symptoms. Only two girls from the trip who had Zika experienced the conjunctivitis, or red eyes, according to Brittain.

Fred Kam, director of the Auburn University Medical Clinic, said he has not seen a case of Zika, but has seen other viruses with similar symptoms. He said there is no vaccine yet for Zika.

"It's all supportive treatment," Kam said. "You treat the symptoms."

Brittain said she was still able to begin classes on time, even with Zika.

"I think the only reason it's scary to Americans is just because it's new," Brittain said. "It's not something that researchers have had time to work on."

Derrick Mathias, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology, is one of those researchers. He studies tick- and mosquito-borne illnesses. Zika is transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitos.

"It's always been a very benign virus," Mathias said. "It hasn't really caused a lot of illness. 2007 was the first time it had caused any sort of disease outside of Africa."

It started to cause illnesses in South America last year, according to Mathias.

Mathias said the disease usually goes away after approximately a week, and fatalities are rare.

Mathias said the major concern is the birth defects if babies whose mothers had Zika while pregnant. He said the biggest issue is microcephaly, or unusually small heads. 

"It's correlated with brain development not being complete," Mathias said. "A lot of these children, we don't know what the longterm effects are going to be, but most of them are going to have some sort of mental impairment."

Mathias said the severity of the defects could depend on when the mother contracts the illness. He said if Zika is contracted in the first semester, the defects could be more severe than if it's contracted later in the pregnancy.

Mathias said Aedes aegypti are not in Alabama. He said Aedes albopictus, which is common in Alabama, could also transmit the disease, but they don't yet.

"We have something like 50 [types of] mosquitos or so in Alabama, and most of them aren't going to be able to transmit the virus," Mathias said.

Kam said a major concern is people contracting the virus and then being bitten by mosquitos, which will then pick up the virus.

Kam said people should take precautions against mosquitos such as wearing repellent, avoiding going out at dusk and dawn and wearing long sleeves.

Mathias said contracting Zika is more of an issue for people living in tropical areas.

"If you're not pregnant, if you're fairly healthy, I don't think you have a lot to be concerned about," Mathias said. "I would much rather get Zika than I would Dengue virus, for example."

Brittain said having Zika was not a big deal to her.

"Dealing with it wasn't fun, but neither is the flu," Brittain said.