Treating West Nile virus

As cases of the West Nile virus continue to increase across the country, officials are trying to inform residents on how to prevent the virus. At the same time, experts are looking for treatments, although they say infected mosquito bites rarely endanger humans.\nClose to home\nNo human cases have been reported in Monroe County, although one bird was infected with the virus in summer 2001. \n"There may never be a specific treatment for the virus," said Vickie VanDeventer, infection control practitioner at Bloomington Hospital. "We usually treat the symptoms."\nBloomington Hospital, 601 W. Second St., is a regional health care center serving Monroe County and eight other counties in South Central Indiana. The mid-sized hospital with over 300 physicians has seen an effect from the emergence of West Nile.\n"I received several phone calls this summer," VanDeventer said. She said West Nile fact sheets she made for the staff and patients went quickly. \nThe prevalent virus is becoming a major concern for Hoosiers, as the total human cases have jumped considerably throughout the summer. Although the heat and humidity is close to an end, the virus will still be a main concern of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this winter and a long time to come.\n"West Nile virus is not going away," said Jennifer A. Dunlap, marketing director at the Office of Public Affairs of the Indiana State Department of Health. "(It) will continue to be present in Indiana."\nThe disease hasn't hit its worst. Across the nation, the laboratory-positive human cases totaled 1,745, including 84 deaths as of Thursday, according to the CDC.\nCoping locally\nThe West Nile virus is not a specific research objective at IU currently, but many of the biology faculty are working on models of the ecology and evolution of parasites and pathogens related to mosquitoes, biology professor Dr. Curt Lively said.\nMichelle Tseng, a graduate student in Biology, works with mosquitoes and studies their habits and disease-carrying abilities in Dr. Lively's laboratory.\n"Malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes, kills millions of people each year," Tseng said. "I became interested in mosquitoes because they were the reason why so many people in the village where I was staying were dying.\n"Mosquitoes can be so lethal to animals and people, and yet there is very little known about the basic biology of this insect," Tseng said. "I hope to make significant contributions to our understanding of the basic ecology and evolution of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases."\nTseng is also an ultimate Frisbee player at IU and plays outside with many mosquitoes. She said she isn't too concerned about the virus infection.\n"You're constantly running when you're playing," Tseng said. "Mosquitoes don't have a chance to land on you. Even if I did get bit by an infected mosquito, the chances of people getting sick are very low, and the chances of people dying from it are extremely low."\nBackground on the disease\nWest Nile is a type of a virus called flavivirus, transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. It dates back to 1937, when the virus was isolated from a febrile adult woman in the West Nile District of Uganda. After cases were discovered in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, west and central Asia and Oceania, the virus is believed to have reached New York by the summer of 1999. No specific date is available as to when exactly the virus came to the United States. \nNow, all states in the mainland, except six Western states, have reported human and/or animal virus cases, according to the CDC.\nThe growing fear over the media-hyped West Nile virus has cast a shadow over some people's minds, but the virus seldom poses a grave danger to humans.\n"Even in areas where the virus is circulating, very few mosquitoes are infected with the virus," according to the CDC. "Even if the mosquito is infected, less than 1 percent of people who get bitten and become infected will get severely ill. The chances you will become severely ill from any one mosquito bite are extremely small."\nPrevention measures and \nsymptoms of the West Nile virus\nTo prevent infection, people spending time outdoors should wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Also, staying indoors from dusk to dawn, when mosquitoes are most active, reduces the chance of getting bitten, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. People can also apply insect repellent and avoid standing water where mosquitoes develop.\nIn case of a bite by an infected mosquito, people should look for the mild symptoms of the West Nile virus infection, which includes slight fever, headache, rash and swollen lymph nodes, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.\nOne in 150 people infected with the virus will develop a more severe form of disease, according to the CDC. \nThe probability of suffering from the virus also varies by age. \n"Although the virus has been reported in people from nine months to 99 years old, severe disease has been most often present in individuals over 50 years old or those with weakened immune systems," Dunlap said.