ZIKA - A MEDICAL HOBGOBLIN ?

Carolyn from New Haven, Connecticut, asks:
 
I read in a newspaper to keep doors and windows closed, and shun nature, in order to avoid  contamination with the so called ‘Zika’ virus, spread primarily by certain mosquitoes. Do you agree?
 
Dr. Fritz:
 
Sure I don’t.
 
In the brave world of American medicine, a new 'hobgoblin' attracts increasingly our attention: the ZIKA virus. According to a recent survey of the Associated Press, 3 quarters of Americans have heard about it, and that it can be transmitted by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes carrying this virus, and 50% learned that sexual intercourse with an infected person can be another avenue of contamination.
 
With a tremendous knowledge gap on the consequences if you are contaminated, besides of birth defects in case of infected mothers.
 
In a nutshell, more than 90% of Americans have no idea about potential diagnostics for this medical danger and, even more problematic, about the availability of preventative vaccines and/or medications to treat. Although more than 300 U.S. citizens caught the virus already.
 
That’s why in February this year of 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tried to alert the public about the dangers of contamination.
 
While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it leaves us with the officially unanswered question, how you can prevent being contaminated. Because you may circumvent sexual intercourse with an infected person, but mosquitoes you can hardly circumvent.
 
Still, nature can help. Based on the fact that all living species on this planet are biologically armed with an immune system to ward off also viruses, it is very important (not only in this specific ZIKA case, to be sure) – to strengthen your immune system. However, this is possible only naturally and not with any kind of pharmaceutical 'antibiotic'. Not only this, there is no 'one size fits all' in health (since 7 billion inhabitants of our globe Earth have 7 billion different metabolisms). Rather, this natural defense should be based on your individual metabolism and therefore, a personalized consultation is advisable.