Updated Guidance for Health Care Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure
On August 2, 2017 the California Department of Public Health released
Updated Guidance for Health Care Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure. This guidance differs from CDC’s 7/28/17 guidance update, which extends discretion to states where regional epidemiology and travel patterns may deviate from patterns seen in other parts of the country. The Alameda County Public Health Department is adopting the new CDPH guidance.
As of 8/4/2017,) there have been 37 cases of Zika virus infection in Alameda County (and an additional 3 in Berkeley), many of whom were pregnant women. Providers should continue to screen pregnant women for possible Zika virus exposure and continue advising women who are pregnant or who want to conceive in the near future to avoid unnecessary travel to areas where Zika is circulating and to follow the appropriate recommendations for preventing sexual transmission. When indicated, testing should be ordered through commercial labs for patients with Zika virus exposure related to travel or sexual contact and either uncomplicated clinical illness (regardless of pregnancy status) or who are asymptomatic pregnant women.