NEOMED Professor on the Zika Virus
Aug. 22, 2019
Even though the Zika virus has dissipated from news reports over the past three years, physicians like Richard Watkins, M.D., say it’s still just as important to be aware of the virus’ symptoms.
In a recent interview with Korin Miller of Yahoo’s Healthy Living newsletter, the Northeast Ohio Medical University associate professor of internal medicine discusses the Zika virus and its symptoms.
According to the article, symptoms of the virus typically spread by mosquitos can include fever, muscle aches, joint pain, rash, inflammation of the eye and headache.
While explaining the Zika virus, Dr. Watkins noted, “It can be confused with dengue fever, which is also caused by a virus, although with dengue the joint pain is often more severe. It can be difficult to differentiate these diseases based on symptoms alone, so the diagnosis is usually made with blood tests.”