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March Break Zika warning

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A new study finds that some Canadian travellers are being hit hard with the Zika virus.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal conducted Zika research with over 1,000 affected Canadians, a few of whom experienced a serious and less common medical condition.

It is well known that Zika virus is predominantly dangerous for pregnant women, or couples who want to conceive in the near future but a new study shows that of 1,118 Canadian travellers, 41 were diagnosed with Zika and 2 of those people experienced much more than just the run of the mill symptoms.

About 5% developed a severe complication of Zika virus, that’s been described previously, known as Guillain-barre syndrome. Guillain-barre syndrome is a neurological complication where the body’s immune system attacks the nerve cells.

In some extreme cases it could also cause temporary paralysis. This study comes just before March Break, a time when many Canadians are getting ready to jet off to a sunny destination. Trip Central’s, Diane Beltrano, says the countries with Zika virus are some of the most popular March Break getaways.

According to Beltrano, “The Zika virus at this point is pretty much spread through out the Caribbean, Mexico, Central, South America.. which is predominantly where we are booking vacation travel.”

If you are planning a vacation to a Zika affected country, and there’s a possibility that you could become pregnant before then, Beltrano says you should invest in travel insurance. “And specifically insurance that covers cancellation for any reason. If its just straight trip cancellation and its for unexpected, this would not be a covered risk.”

Beltrano says because Zika is now a well known virus, insurance companies no longer consider it a justifiable unexpected reason to cancel a trip. If you are heading to a Zika effected country this March Break, take mosquito repellent and protect yourself from exposure.