Zika virus may be transmitted in sweat and tears

Editor's Note

Physicians at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, announced on September 28 that the Zika virus may be transmitted in sweat and tears, NBC News reports.

The case of a Utah man who infected his 38-year old son before he died in July leaves no other alternatives, the medical team says.

In addition, the 73-year-old man who died was not especially ill before he caught Zika on a trip to Mexico, suggesting that the virus can kill patients who are not frail and ill.

The son had assisted a nurse in repositioning his father in bed without using gloves and had also wiped his father’s eyes. He had no contact with blood or body fluids. The son also had not traveled, and mosquitoes that spread Zika are not found in Utah.

Investigators spent weeks trying to discover out how the son became infected.

The Zika virus may spread in sweat and tears in some cases, doctors cautioned Thursday. The case of a Utah man who infected his adult son before he died leaves no other alternatives, the team at the University of Utah School of Medicine said.