Is Personal Protection Really Effective Against Zika Infection?

Annelies Wilder-Smith, MD, PhD, professor at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore, examines the effectiveness of personal protection against Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya viruses.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“The CDC and WHO have very good websites where they list advice [on how to protect oneself against Zika virus infection]. Clearly, the advice remains that pregnant women should avoid traveling to currently Zika-infected countries. For non-pregnant women and men traveling to Zika-infected areas, the usual precautions still count, which is daytime protection [from] mosquitoes that are responsible for Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya, mainly during the day.

Of course you can reduce landing and biting rates with personal protection, like spraying [mosquito repellant] and [wearing] long-sleeves, etc. But we have not seen any data that good personal protection, indeed, also translates to less disease.”