Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Canceled trip

I'm sad today. 

I've canceled my trip to Brazil. :'-( 

my travel agent said not to worry - TAM is refunding pregnant ladies, and she'd try to get me a refund based on the fact that we are trying to get pregnant.

I know I did the right thing. But I'm really upset. 

My two BFFs were pregnant at the same time I was. We never got together. Now our girls are all born and we still won't get together. They are hanging out all the time with their babies and I am missing out on it. :'-( 

I've done a lot of reading about this zika virus. CDC and its Brazilian equivalent, news reports and researchers and doctors opinions all over Brazil. At first I thought it could just be mass hysteria. But the more I read, the more I realize no one knows what's going on. Everyday there's a new fact. One day situation looks harmless. Next day it could be the end of the world. 

E.g. At first only 41 out of 462 microcephaly cases have been linked to zika. Which suggests microcephaly might be related to another issue altogether. Then just the next day this number jumped to over a thousand. 

Also there's no data on how many healthy babies have been born to mothers who had the zika virus - a relevant question no one is asking. 

But... What if I am wrong? I'll never forgive myself. 

 I will be risking the life of my next baby. What if it turns out once you're infected, even in infancy, you'll never be able to have normal children again. Now I'm jeopardizing Alexandra's future. 

Plus, both sides of the family are worried sick.

When your family tells you not to do something and you do it either way, then something bad happens... You just can't forgive yourself. 

....

 There's a lot of misinformation out there.

A lot of it is just people intentionally trying to cause panic.

Here's an example:

Some idiot posted a video saying microcephaly in pernambuco (a state in Brazil where many microcephaly cases are happening) was caused by a shipment of expired vaccines against rubella that were given to pregnant women in the area. 

This man should be arrested. This is the equivalent of yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theater. 

Pregnant women can't be vaccinated against rubella!!!!

As a matter of fact there's very little reason to fear zika outbreak here in New England as well. 

Zika is transmitted by a certain mosquito, the Aedes Egypt - an old acquaintance of mine. 

As far as I know, Mr. Egypt lives only in tropical climates. 

That means no mosquitos that bite you here in New England can NOT infect you with zika. 

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