Zika Virus Outbreak, Barbados, 2015 - 2016

Ryan, S. J.; Lippi, C. A.; Carlson, C. J.; Stewart-Ibarra, A. M.; Borbor Cordova, M. J.; Romero, M. M.; Cox, S.-A.; Mahon, R.; Trotman, A.; Rollock, L.; Gittens-St. Hilaire, M.; King, D.; Daniel, S.

doi:10.1101/279182

bioRxiv · 10.1101/279182

Zika Virus Outbreak, Barbados, 2015 - 2016

Ryan, S. J.·Lippi, C. A.·Carlson, C. J.·Stewart-Ibarra, A. M.·Borbor Cordova, M. J.·Romero, M. M.·Cox, S.-A.·Mahon, R.·Trotman, A.·Rollock, L.·Gittens-St. Hilaire, M.·King, D.·Daniel, S.

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Abstract

Barbados is a Caribbean island country of approximately 285,000 people, with a thriving tourism industry. In 2015, Zika spread rapidly throughout the Americas, and its proliferation through the Caribbean islands followed suit. Barbados reported its first confirmed autochthonous Zika transmission to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in January 2016, a month before the global public health emergency was declared. Following detection of suspected Zika cases on Barbados in 2015, 926 individuals were described as suspected cases, and 147 lab confirmed cases were reported through December 2016, the end of the most recent epidemiological year. In this short report, we describe the epidemiological characteristics of 926 clinical case records which were originally suspected as cases of Zika, and which were subsequently sent for testing and confirmation; 147 were found positive for Zika, using RT-PCR methods, another 276 tested negative, and the remaining 503 were either pending results or still in the suspected category. Women were represented at about twice the rate of men in case records where sex was reported (71.9%), and confirmed cases (78.2%), and 19 of the confirmed positive cases were children under the age of 10.

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Ryan, S. J., Lippi, C. A., Carlson, C. J., Stewart-Ibarra, A. M., Borbor Cordova, M. J., Romero, M. M., Cox, S.-A., Mahon, R., Trotman, A., Rollock, L., Gittens-St. Hilaire, M., King, D., Daniel, S.. 2018-03-09. Zika Virus Outbreak, Barbados, 2015 - 2016. https://doi.org/10.1101/279182

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