West Nile Symptoms
West Nile Virus disease - what is it?
West nile virus is a virus belonging to the Flavivirus family and is found in Africa (hence the name), West Asia, the Middle East, USA. West nile virus is known to infect birds, horses, humans and some other mammals. It is transmitted by Culex species mosquitoes. It is believed that animals are the 'reservoirs' of infection for the west nile virus ie they carry it and when a mosquito bites them and then subsequently a susceptible human, the disease gets transmitted. There have been reports of cases where the disease is passed through a mother's milk to her breastfeeding infant or via contaminated blood in blood transfusions but by far the most common mode of infection for the West nile virus is via the infected mosquito. It usually takes about 3-14 days from being bitten by an infected mosquito to the onset of west nile virus disease. As with most mosquito borne diseases, West nile virus disease is most common in the warmer months in temperate climates eg primarily summer and early fall. However in southern climates where temperatures are mild, the west nile virus can be a year round occurence.
West Nile Virus symptoms
Most people who get the West nile virus will have no or very mild symptoms - which is why it is so hard to pick up. About 1 in 5 people get the West Nile fever and then recover. And a small minority (about 1%) of people will get the severed form of the disease with brain involvement such as menigitis or encephalitis (infection of the lining of the brain or the brain tissue itself).
In the mild form of west nile virus disease, symptoms include
- fever
- headache
- swollen lymph nodes
- muscle aches
- rash
Not all symptoms have to be present, you can have one symptom eg fever and not the others. Treatment for west nile virus disease is based on relieving the symptoms eg the headache and muscle aches with pain relievers. With mild forms of the west nile virus disease, symptoms generally alleviate of their own accord in a few days, but it could take a few weeks for some individuals.
In the severe form of the disease, the brain is involved - encephalitis and menigitis. These are life-threatening conditions and the person suffering from this form of west nile virus disease must be hospitalized. Permanent neurological damage could result from people recovering from the severe form of West Nile virus disease.
In the severe form of West nile virus disease, the symptoms include :
- high fever
- headache
- neck stiffness
- mental dullness
- disorientation
- tremors
- convulsions
- paralysis
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West nile symptoms
