It’s West Nile Season, And What That Means For Us

by Julianna LeMieux

If you couldn’t tell from all of the joyous children running around, the summer has begun. Unfortunately, that also means that it’s the start of West Nile Virus season.  In just the last week, reports of cases have started to crop up — three in Mississippi, one in Nebraska, another in Oklahoma. And, many more states may not have human cases yet, but have reported the presence of mosquitoes with West Nile.  So, what does this mean for us? Is this cause for concern, or just a lot of hype? The answer is somewhere in between.

First, some background. West Nile Virus was found in the United States in 1999, with 62 cases and seven deaths reported that year. Since then we have seen cases annually, and therefore we should work on the assumption that it’s here to stay. The number of cases varies year to year, from the highest in 2003 (9,862) to only 21 in 2000.

If you are infected with West Nile, there are three very different possible outcomes. The good news is that most people who are infected (80 percent) have no symptoms. Those people are not included in the numbers above as they lie under the radar.  For the other 20 percent who have symptoms and visit a physician, there are two ways as to how the disease develops.......To Read More.....