health

If WNF is suspected, the first step for the physician is take a history,
which means asking a person about prior health, when symptoms began,
and recent travels and activities. This may help determine if the person
might have been exposed to an infected mosquito. A blood test can
confirm the presence of the virus.
For mild cases of WNF, no specific treatment exists. A doctor
usually recommends rest and over-the-counter medications, such as
acetaminophen, to ease fever and aches. Severe cases of WNF may
require hospitalization and more specialized care, such as intravenous
(in-tra-VEE-nus) fluids (fluids given directly into a vein) to prevent or treat
dehydration in someone who is too sick to drink or who is vomiting. A
person who is having trouble breathing may be put on a ventilator.
How long WNV illness lasts depends on the severity of the infection.
If a person has a mild infection, symptoms often go away in about a week.
Recovery from serious infection may take several weeks to months. Most
people who are infected with WNV do not become very sick. Only about
1 percent of all infected people become severely ill. Of these severe cases,
up to 15 percent are fatal. Elderly people have the highest risk of developing
serious complications from the disease.

West Nile Invades New York

In the summer of 1999, dead birds began appearing all over the New
York City metropolitan area. Public health offi cials were called in to
fi nd out why. Th ey soon learned that the deaths were linked to the
virus that causes West Nile fever, an infection that is spread by mosquitoes.
Before 1999, West Nile fever had never been seen in the Western
Hemisphere.