A 47-year-old man from Kerala's Thrissur reportedly succumbed to West Nile fever last week. West Nile fever is a mosquito-borne disease.
Amid several other viruses, the West Nile virus has now emerged as a cause of concern among the health authorities. A 47-year-old man from Kerala's Thrissur reportedly succumbed to West Nile fever last week. West Nile fever is a mosquito-borne disease. This is said to be the second death due to the vector-borne disease in the state. The earlier case was of 2019.
This disease is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Cases of West Nile virus (WNV) occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through the monsoon season. West Nile virus is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever.
Read | Kerala, Tamil Nadu step up vigilance after West Nile Virus kills one: Know cause, symptoms
It is a member of the family Flaviviridae, from the genus Flavivirus, which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The virus is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, mostly species of Culex. It mostly causes flu-like symptoms and but can turn life threatening in few cases.
What is West Nile fever?
The West Nile fever is a a mosquito-borne disease, caused by the West Nile virus which is a single-stranded RNA virus. The infection spreads amongst humans from infected bites of Culex mosquitoes. These mosquitoes get the virus from infected birds since birds are the natural host for this virus.
Culex mosquitoes are found across the country, both in north and south India. Other than human beings, horses and other mammals can also get infected. The West Nile virus is not known to spread by contact with infected humans or animals. It is mainly transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), till date no human-to-human transmission of West Nile virus through casual contact has been documented.
Symptoms of West Nile fever
The West Nile virus can cause neurological disease and death in people. Nearly 80% of the people infected with the virus may remain asymptomatic, while nearly 20% of those infected go on to get fever. Many a time, a person does not even know he/she has been infected.
Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, nausea, rash and sometimes swollen glands. But, if the infected person is over 60 years of age, and severely immunocompromised, then the chances of complications are high as the brain can get affected. This may further lead to life-threatening infections such as encephalitis or meningitis.
In case of severe West Nile disease, which happens in less than 1%, it can lead to encephalitis, meningitis, paralysis and even death. It usually turns fatal in persons with co-morbidities and immuno-compromised persons. There is no specific treatment or vaccine. Some even develop stiffness in the neck, coma, tremors, convulsions, disorientation, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis.
Prevention of the disease
Mosquito control and protecting one-self from mosquito bites is the only way to prevent the disease.
Wear full length clothes, cover well as that will act as a barrier with exposure to infected mosquitoes.
Reduce breeding sites, cover water storage containers, eliminate puddles and don't let water accumulate.
Eliminating unusable containers where water pools and controlling garbage in yards and gardens is crucial.
Treatment of West Nile fever
In severe cases, the treatment mainly involves hospitalisation, intravenous fluids, respiratory support, and prevention of secondary infections. There are no vaccines currently available against the disease for humans.
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 "West Nile fever kills Kerala man: Causes, symptoms")
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