Not all pregnant women infected with the Zika virus will pass it on to their babies, which will lead to birth defects if it happens.

Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam said this when asked for medical opinion on whether mothers who contract Zika should abort their babies or otherwise.

“The percentage is between one to five percent only. That means, there is a 95 percent possibility that a (Zika-related) pregnancy will be okay,” he told a press conference after launching the 11th Allied Health Scientific Conference Malaysia 2016 in Kuala Lumpur today.

This, added Subramaniam, was one of the factors that needed to be taken into account before the Health Ministry gives a general advice on the matter.

“That's why our advice is to follow the advice of a doctor.

“Because if a mother is found positive with Zika, doctors will conduct all kinds of tests (and) they will be able to say whether anything has gone wrong or not,” Subramaniam said.

Obstetrics and gynaecology specialists, he added, have already been briefed on the things that needed to be done when a potential Zika patient sees them.

Subramaniam was earlier asked to comment on Federal Territories mufti Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri saying that it was permissible for a mother who has been infected with Zika to abort her pregnancy.

The health minister pointed out that current laws involving abortions which allows for therapeutic abortions to take place, had taken into account religious views.

Subramaniam however said that the view by the Federal Territories mufti must also be accepted by other muftis.

“If all muftis can come out with the same stand, it will make it easier for us to advise patients,” he said.

“Although I have received the view by the Federal Territories mufti, this must be accepted by other religious quarters so that they are in consensus on this matter.”

The National Fatwa Council, therefore, should come out with a joint statement on the matter and this, said Subramaniam, would assist in the formulation of more appropriate guidelines.

Genotyping of Zika virus

On a related matter, the health minister confirmed that the country is also conducting its own genotyping of the Zika virus.

Asked if the Zika strain here is similar to the one in Singapore, Subramaniam said the genotyping test, which would be ready by this week, would provide information on this.

“And then (we will) see whether we are dealing with the same thing or dealing with different things. And we will share this information,” he promised.

The Zika virus is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.

The country's first case of reported Zika infection was when a 58-year-old woman in Klang, Selangor, tested positive for the disease a week after her return from Singapore on Aug 21.

The first local transmission case of Zika was reported last week in Sabah. The patient however died due to complications from a heart condition.

People with Zika virus often display symptoms such as mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. These symptoms normally last from two to seven days.

There is a scientific consensus that the Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly in newborn babies and the Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Hesitant to license vaccine

Meanwhile, responding to a Malaysian dengue vaccine advocacy group which had urged the ministry to license the use of the dengue vaccine, Subramaniam said the Health Ministry has been hesitant to do this, due to the issues related to the vaccine.

He said if their questions were answered and their requirements met, they would be the first to allow its use.

“(But) recent studies in the United States say that giving the vaccine to people who have not been exposed to the dengue virus before, could be more dangerous than its benefits,” he said, explaining that he or she could experience severe dengue instead.

A person who has never been exposed to the dengue virus must first be tested before he or she is administered with the vaccine, added Subramaniam.

“We must take your blood, and test it to see whether you have antibody levels to certain types of dengue. After we determine that, then we give you that vaccine.

“That process is a very tedious and expensive. To do it on a community level would be virtually impossible,” he said.