The monitoring activity highlighted the presence of two asymptomatic blood donors, positive for West Nile. The Department of Prevention, with the veterinary part, registers two horses infected by the virus with neurological syndromes.
Vercelli’s patient will be discharged –
The patient of the province on which one of the two cases of positivity to the West Nile virus communicated by the experimental zooprophylactic institute of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta was admitted to the Infectious Diseases department of the Sant’Andrea hospital in Vercelli . The second case notified in Piedmont was found in the province of Novara. From the ASL of Vercelli they underline that the patient from Vercelli is close to being discharged.
Monitoring plan of the breaking latest news Local Health Authority –
A monitoring plan for the prevention of West Nile Disease, the so-called Nile fever, caused by a virus that has birds and mosquitoes as reservoirs, whose bites are the main means of transmission to humans. It is that of the ASL of breaking latest news, conducted through the Services of the Prevention Department, in concert with the Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo.
In particular, the control of the virus takes place through the capture of mosquitoes with entomological traps distributed in significant places throughout the province. The investigations, samplings and studies carried out – the health company said – have not found, from 2018 to date, the circulation of the West Nile Disease virus in the provincial territory. In the event of a positive outcome, the measures to intensify the fight against insects will immediately be triggered, as well as alerts for the Transfusion Centers.
The director of the Animal Health UOC, Franco Ruggeri, advises “to make life difficult for mosquitoes by applying mosquito nets to the windows, but also to avoid leaving containers of any kind (buckets, saucers, tanks, manholes, etc.) with stagnant water, an ideal place for mosquitoes to breed “.
Symptoms –
In humans, Nile fever is characterized by a flu-like feverish state, which, in severe cases, and especially in immuno-compromised subjects, can lead to potentially fatal forms of severe encephalitis. In animals it is almost always asymptomatic, except in horses which, similarly to humans, can have encephalitic forms.
“It is important to contact your doctor promptly and, if necessary, to hospital facilities in case symptoms such as severe fever, headache, disorientation, numbness, loss of vision appear – says Marina Munari, director of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. University of Padua. – A timely diagnosis increases the possibility of effective treatment, limiting the effects of the virus; the infection from West Nile, like many of the summer fevers, usually does not involve particular risks. Most of the patients, four out of five, are asymptomatic. One in five develops fever, headache and arthralgia, but in some rare cases it can develop encephalitis with compromised central nervous system. “