Zika Virus Testing

Zika Virus Testing London – Fleet Street Clinic

Our Central London Clinic offers a private service for Zika Virus testing.

Testing can be complicated: our expert team gives you clear, practical advice on the right test for your circumstances, and helps you interpret the results. We believe that post-exposure, Zika testing should be more widely accessible. If you are considering getting tested, why not come in and talk things over with one of our doctors.

Our private Zika test service is discreet and reliable. Undertaken by a team of experienced doctors and nurses, we are at hand to answer any of your questions or concerns.

What is the Zika Virus? 

Zika virus belongs to the same family of viruses as dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis. It also belongs to a larger category of viruses capable of spread from one human (or animal host) to another by biting insects.

What are the Zika Virus Symptoms?

After an incubation period of 3 to 14 days following exposure, the commonest symptoms are:

• Rash (lasting 5 to 6 days)
• Itching
• Headache
• Joint and muscle aches
• Conjunctivitis
• Mild fever (occurs in only 36% of cases, often lasting less than a day).

Symptoms persist between 2 and 7 days. In early stages, the Zika illness is indistinguishable from dengue and chikungunya. But only 20% of Zika infections cause overt symptoms.

Who Should be Tested?

• If you have had no symptoms during travel to a risk area, routine testing is NOT considered necessary. However, there may be individual circumstance that make this advisable.

• If you have had symptoms during travel to a risk area, testing may be helpful to confirm exposure.

• Testing may be recommended for pregnant women
  • If they have been symptomatic during travel
  • If they have recently returned from risk areas
  • If they have had possible sexual exposure to a person who has travelled to a risk area.

Two kinds of tests are available:

• Tests for traces of viral genetic material (called RT-PCR tests) – can be run on a blood test (within 7 days of the start of symptoms) or urine sample (within 14 days of the start of symptoms).
• After this period, antibody blood tests should be used. They may turn positive as early as Day 4, and remain positive several months.
• Dengue and chikungunya cause similar symptoms to Zika, so tests for these may also be needed to clarify a diagnosis: PCR and antibody tests are available for dengue; antibody tests are available for chikungunya.

Several types of rapid tests are currently being developed and will be introduced at the Fleet Street Clinic as soon as they become available.

How Do I Arrange to be Tested?

Book a GP consultation or an appointment with one of our travel doctors – RT-PCR tests give the most reliable results and should be undertaken as close to the onset of symptoms/time of exposure as possible.

I am unwell following Travel to a Tropical Country. What Should I do?

There are many other causes of fever and illness following travel, including some (like malaria) that require urgent action. Book a post-travel appointment with one of our doctors for full investigation.

For more information about the Zika virus, please visit our Zika Virus information page.

Book An Appointment

For further details and appointments, contact us today  – you can call us on 020 7353 5678 or request an appointment online here.