Researchers are gaining more knowledge of the wide range of symptoms that accompany infection with West Nile virus.

Researchers are gaining more knowledge of the wide range of symptoms that accompany infection with West Nile virus.
The season of West Nile virus outbreaks is fast approaching. The infection, which first hit the US in 1999, claimed 284 lives out of over 4,000 cases in 2002. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic are now better able to describe the wide range of symptoms involved in West Nile infection; this is useful, as it may help in earlier diagnosis.

They studied a group of 23 patients and report that in 26 per cent of cases, a rash is a distinctive first symptom. Other early symptoms include lower back pain, limb pain and gastrointestinal disturbances. All of the patients had a fever at some point.

Half of the patients developed muscle weakness progressing to paralysis, involving all four limbs and even the breathing muscles in some cases. Altered mental status - confusion, agitation, lethargy - were common, sometimes with accompanying tremor and seizures. Serious complications included breakdown in muscle tissue and severe salt depletion. Three of these patients died.

It's clear from this study that West Nile virus infection can cause serious disability. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment for the infection, so it's important to catch it early and get a correct diagnosis, so that complications can be dealt with promptly if they arise.

Source

Neurology 8th July 2003