Some weeks back, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 65 cases of Zika virus had been recorded in the United States. In its latest report, however, the CDC said 122 patients are now infected with the virus.
Should this be a cause for concern?
The answer is "no," according to the CDC. The leading national public health institute in the U.S. implemented a change in how cases of Zika virus infections are reported, causing the patient count to rise all of a sudden.
From reporting pregnant women with both Zika symptoms and positive blood tests, the CDC now counts all women who tested positive, regardless of symptoms.
Dr. Neil Silverman, an obstetrics professor from the University of California Los Angeles, allayed fears that the higher patient count would result in greater risk of being infected with the Zika virus.
"About 90 percent of what we're doing is reassuring and calming people," Silverman, who is currently advising the California Department of Public Health on Zika issues, told Fox News.
The CDC also acknowledged the fact that the current Zika virus patient count may include false positives since one kind of blood test is too prone to giving wrong results.
Still, the health agency said the new system of counting is for the better.
Dr. Richard Beigi, an obstetrics expert at the University of Pittsburgh, agreed that this new count "will give us a better idea of the correlation between a mom's symptoms and the effects on the baby."
At present, Zika virus infections are present in 50 American states, up from 48 last week. The virus, which causes brain deformation among babies, has also been reported in territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Last week, top health officials already briefed U.S. President Barack Obama about the extent of the Zika virus infection in the country. Obama earlier urged Congress to allocate funds to combat the virus.
On Thursday, the Senate approved P1.1 billion in funding for this purpose, but the House only allocated only P622 million.
"Bottom line is Congress needs to get me a bill. It needs to get me a bill that has sufficient funds to do the job," Obama said, as quoted by Fox News.
