|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
Want to support Global Action on Aging? Click below: Thanks!
|
 |
West Nile's Deadly Impact On the Elderly Baffles
Scientists By Leon Alligood, Tennessean.com May 27, 2003 If a person is unfortunate enough to be bitten by a mosquito carrying the West Nile virus, there's no guarantee he will get the virus. While scientists are working to understand why that's the case, it is known that most of the deaths associated with West Nile virus are clustered in the older population. ''This is weighted toward the elderly. Old age is far and away the biggest risk factor,'' said Tim Jones, deputy state epidemiologist. So far in the Tennessee epidemic, geography also plays a role, with 40 of last year's 56 human cases occurring in Shelby County. Four of the confirmed cases were found in Middle Tennessee, in the counties of Davidson, Sumner, Rutherford and Putnam. However, Davidson led the state last year in the number of positive test results — 138 — in wild birds. Shelby was second with 83 confirmed cases. ''We don't know what it's going to do this summer, but we do not want to be caught looking complacent,'' Jones added. West Nile virus is a ''vector-borne'' disease. A vector is an organism that carries the virus from one to another. In the case of West Nile, mosquitoes are infected by birds. That's why dead birds — in Tennessee, blue jays — are often the first sign that West Nile has arrived. The insects then spread the disease to livestock and humans. The virus may have no symptoms or cause a flulike illness. It can lead to encephalitis, a swelling of the brain. Jones notes that even though a person can be infected by one mosquito bite, ''the important thing to remind people is that even in areas where there's lots of mosquito activity, 99 out of 100 mosquitoes don't have the virus.'' Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
|
