Safe sex or no sex after visiting Zika-hit areas: WHO

GENEVA: People who travel to Zika-hit areas should practice safe sex or have no sex at all for at least eight weeks after their return to avoid sexual transmission

GENEVA: People who travel to Zika-hit areas should practice safe sex or have no sex at all for at least eight weeks after their return to avoid sexual transmission of the virus, WHO said on Tuesday.

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That is double the one month of safe sexual practices previously recommended by the World Health Organization, which explained that new studies showed the Zika virus could survive in sperm longer than previously thought.

The recommendation is only for men and women who present no symptoms of the virus, which experts agree is behind a surge in cases in Latin America of microcephaly — a birth defect in which babies are born with unusually small heads and brains.