Zika illnesses are mild at worst in US teens, young children

US health officials are advising pregnant women to postpone travel to 11 countries in Southeast Asia because of Zika outbreaks in the region.

Men who live in or have traveled to an area of active Zika transmission are now urged to wait half a year before attempting conception, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with Zika or showed any symptoms, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

In the French report on Zika infecting sperm, scientists from INSERM (the French equivalent of the U.S. National Institutes of Health) and Toulouse University took blood, urine and semen samples from a 32-year-old man who was showing signs of Zika infection.

Reports are also describing the first two cases of Zika-linked microcephaly in Thailand.

The agency also said that those going to these countries should protect themselves against mosquitoes by using repellents; wearing long-sleeved shirts, long trousers, socks and a hat; and using bed nets in areas where they are staying.

Since January, Thailand government has approved about 349 Microcephaly which is rooted from Zika including 33 pregnant women. Beer warned that those who have been infected with Zika need to refrain from getting pregnant, or impregnating for a minimum of six months, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

The health ministry said on Friday that tests remained inconclusive as to whether the third infant's condition was connected to Zika.

According to the organisation, the presence of Zika in Southeast Asia has been documented in recent years, including from Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and Bangladesh.

CDC officials also reported findings from a study of 158 confirmed or probable pediatric cases of Zika. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the virus.

1,490 pregnant women in U.S. Territories.

At least 19 are Bangladeshis among some 400 people infected with Zika recently in Singapore. It may be that kids can still get it, but there weren't enough cases for it to surface, said Dr. Ganeshwaran Mochida, a pediatric neurologist at Boston Children's Hospital.

But the team, co-led by Dr Joanna Wysocka, a chemical and systems biologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said follow-up research would be needed to look for any evidence that the virus' effect on the cells would be enough to cause microcephaly.

NIAID director Anthony Fauci, MD, remarked during a panel discussion that estimates for a child's potential to be born with congenital birth defects associated with congenital Zika virus infection are much higher than previously thought. Children with microcephaly face lifelong difficulties, including intellectual impairment.