Olympics 2016: Zika Virus Spread Unlikely According To Study

The Olympics 2016 in Rio de Janeiro will not accelerate the global spread of Zika virus after a research reveals that only six to 80 people would be infected with Zika virus. The researchers also suggested that only one to 16 people would experience symptoms.

The results of the research do not support the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) to postpone or relocate the Olympics 2016. According to its findings, the event will not meaningfully impact the international spread of Zika.

Joseph Lewnard of the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven Connecticut wrote that based on their calculations, a visitor's chance of becoming infected with Zika Virus at the Olympics 2016 is low. The chance that the virus will be imported to his or her home country is likewise low, ABC News reported.

The findings are in contrast to the open letter sent from 150 professors, scientists and doctors who warned that visitors of the Olympics 2016 could accelerate the spread of the virus worldwide, Los Angeles Times reported. The study even with their presented data, however, showed that their concerns may be largely exaggerated as explained by Albert Ko, chairman of the school's Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases.

Though a number of athletes, most of whom are supposed to represent their nations for the sport of golf, have cited Zika virus as a reason for withdrawing from the Olympics, it should not be distracted from the global threat that the Zika virus poses. However, the fears about the spread of the virus should be kept in perspective.

The United States' health officials have previously concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women may cause microcephaly, a birth defect that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. WHO also said that there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause a neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults called Guillain-Barre.

Olympics 2016 is scheduled for August and September. It will bring 350,000 to 500,000 people from different parts of the world to Brazil.