Health & Fitness
Season's First West Nile Case Should Serve as Wake-up Call for New Yorkers
Mosquitoes should be avoided as much as possible.
The season’s first confirmed case of West Nile virus in New York should serve as a reminder to take the necessary precautions to avoid mosquitoes and limit exposure to the potentially fatal virus, said an infectious disease specialist at the North Shore-LIJ Health System.
David Hirschwerk, MD, advises to use mosquito repellent while outdoors and to wear long sleeves, long pants and socks when the weather permits.
“This is the time of year in New York where we start to see cases of West Nile,” Dr. Hirschwerk said, reacting to news that a Brooklyn man was treated at a hospital for West Nile and discharged this month. “People should look to protect themselves particularly from dusk until dawn, the time of day when people are most at risk for getting bitten by mosquitoes.”
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While the season has yielded just one reported case of West Nile in New York, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that across the United States there have been 142 cases in 30 states, including three deaths. Since the country’s first case of West Nile was confirmed in New York in 1999, health officials have counted 729 cases in the state, including 62 fatalities.
The elderly and people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and individuals with advanced HIV and AIDS, are at greatest risk for developing serious disease from West Nile, Dr. Hirschwerk said.
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“Young otherwise healthy people” exposed to West Nile may show no symptoms, he said.
The CDC reports that less than 1 percent of people infected with West Nile develop a serious neurologic illness, such as meningitis and encephalitis. Symptoms of neurologic illness can include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, tremors, seizures and paralysis.
World Mosquito Day on Aug. 20 is an effort to remind the public about the continuing threat of West Nile, malaria and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. More than 1,700 people have died of West Nile in the United States since 1999.
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