West Nile: Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention

West Nile is a type of mosquito spread virus. Often, people live with the infection, but they do not know they have it. In rare cases, the West Nile virus leads to a severe disease affecting the brain or spinal cord.

People over 50 years of age pose the greatest risk. Most people recover completely after the disease but some, especially those who have had a severe infection, can remain with permanent problems such as seizures, memory loss, or brain damage. Very few people died of this virus.

West Nile: Virus Transmission

Sometimes, mosquitoes transmit the virus to other animals, such as horses or birds, but you can not get the virus from an infected animal or if you come in contact with a person who has acquired the disease.

West Nile virus can only be transmitted through mosquito bite, organ transplant, or blood transfusion.

Some evidence suggests that West Nile can be transmitted from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.

West Nile: Symptoms of the viral infection

In general, 80 people out of 100 who have West Nile have no symptoms. These may begin in the first 15 days after being stung by a mosquito which carries the virus.

The mild symptoms may include:

l  fever

l  headache

l  tiredness and weakness

l  lack of appetite

l  pain in the whole body

l  rash, usually on the chest

l  swelling of the lymph nodes

People who have mild illness caused by West Nile virus have fever for 5 days, struggle with headache for about 10 days, and experience a permanent tiredness of more than a month.

Generally, a 50-year-old can experience a serious form of the disease. This can lead to swelling of the brain (encephalitis), spinal cord (myelitis), or swelling of the tissues around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis).

The serious manifestation of West Nile virus is manifested by:

l  severe headache

l  high fever

l  confusion

l  convulsions

l  muscle weakness

l  paralysis and coma

If you experience such symptoms, you should immediately get to a doctor and perform blood tests. Antibodies can show if you were infected with West Nile. Otherwise, you can perform other tests, such as:

Lumbar puncture to look for antibodies or other signs of the virus in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

An MRI (brain imaging) Scan. This is done to find out if you have encephalitis.

West Nile: Treatment and how to deal with the virus.

Unfortunately, there is no West Nile treatment. That's why the body has to fight this infection on its own.

If you have a mild form of illness, you can recover at home. Make sure you drink enough fluids and get enough rest. But the diagnosis and help of the doctor should not be ignored.

If you present a severe form of West Nile, symptoms can last for weeks or months, especially if the infection has spread to the brain, and admission to a hospital is absolutely necessary.

There you can get help in preventing other complications of the viral infection, such as pneumonia, because you will be given infusions and you will be connected at support and monitoring devices.

West Nile: Prevention of West Nile infestation

l  Use a spray that can protect you from insects when you are outdoors at the end of spring, summer, and early autumn.

l  Wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers if you know you will be in areas full of mosquitoes or in places where you know the West Nile virus has been found.

l  Do not leave water receptacles open.

l  If you are in an area where mosquitoes make their presence felt, stay in the house at dawn and in the evening when the insects are active.

West Nile: Viral infection during pregnancy

The fact is that pregnant women are more exposed to this virus and that only because they attract mosquitoes more than ever.

Explanations given by specialists in this regard aim at the higher temperature of the body in this state as being responsible for attracting them. It seems that the pregnant woman emanates more volatile substances from the skin, which are very easily detected by mosquitoes.

There is new evidence suggesting that infestation with West Nile virus in the first two trimesters of pregnancy may have serious side effects on fetal development.

Once the mother has been infected, the virus can reach the baby through trans-placental transmission.

Following the investigation of cases of West Nile infection during pregnancy, the following congenital maladies were found in the newborn:

l  The palatine wave cleft

l  Down syndrome

l  Small head at birth

l  Extra fingers

It seems that the effects on fetal development depend on the pregnancy stage in which the woman was infected. If the infection occurred during the first trimester of pregnancy, the effects appear to be minimal.

West Nile: Viral infection in children.

According to statistics, there are very few chances that babies under one year of age to be infected with West Nile virus.

Cases were extremely rare, or even unique in specific areas.

It is believed that there is a greater predisposition to contact the virus when the children are active and always in the continuous exploration of the environment, venturing through areas where there are many mosquitoes.

Also, following a 20-year analysis of the evolution of West Nile virus in children, it has been shown that they are not at higher risk of infection and there have been no deaths in children caused by this virus.

For example, in just one year, only 3% of the West Nile viral infection cases were registered in children.

However, doctors caution that any child who has a low immune system is prone to the West Nile virus contamination. But this applies to all people.

They argue that both children and adults can manifest the disease, and there is no other form of presentation. Cases in children are rarer also because children are generally stronger and healthy and have an immune system that can cope with this virus.