The Zika virus is an emerging concern for women and their medical providers worldwide

The Zika virus is an emerging concern for women and their medical providers worldwide. The associations with of Zika virus in pregnant women with microcephaly in their infants are very worrisome, especially since most cases in pregnant women are asymptomatic. For non-obstetric providers, sexual transmission has now been confirmed, and raises other public health issues.

Women’s Health Research Institute investigators, along with partner clinician scientists, are on the front lines nationally and internationally, studying this virus, developing management strategies and algorithms, and helping to care for exposed and infected women. Please consult your local public health and obstetrical leadership for specific guidelines.

Zika Resources:

The Women’s Health Research Institute would like to acknowledge that we are uninvited guests on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lo, and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-waututh) Nations.

As a provincial research institute committed to improving the health outcomes of women, including those across the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, we recognize our responsibility in the collective effort towards establishing culturally safe health care systems and services that address health inequities among Indigenous peoples, especially Indigenous women, girls, and Two-spirit peoples.

We encourage all people involved in research to read both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action and the In Plain Sight Report, and reflect on ways we can incorporate the recommendations into our work. As we gather in spaces together, we encourage you to reflect on your positionality on these lands and your personal commitments to reconciliation.

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