West Nile was Worse Than Thought'

April 1, 2003
By Jim Ritter Health Reporter

The mosquito-borne West Nile virus hit harder than previously believed, with more than half of hospitalized patients suffering serious nerve damage, a new study has found.

Fifty-four percent of patients admitted to three Chicago hospitals last year suffered from symptoms including vision loss, paralysis of more than half the body, muscle weakness, abnormally slow movement, numbness and an unstable walk, the study released Monday found--symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease, stroke, polio and other diseases that damage nerves.

"It was worse than what I was expecting to find," said Dr. Nidhi Watson of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, who presented findings of the study at a meeting in Honolulu of the American Academy of Neurology. "It pretty much caught us off-guard."

With rehabilitation, West Nile patients generally improve, the study confirmed. "You may not get completely back to normal, but you do get better," Watson said.

Last year, Illinois led the nation with 879 cases of West Nile infection and 60 deaths. There were 594 cases in Cook County alone.

West Nile, which first appeared in the eastern United States in 1999, is expected to return this summer, when infected mosquitoes begin biting. "It's a permanent fixture," Watson said.

Most people bitten by an infected mosquito don't even get sick. About 20 percent, though, develop what's called West Nile fever, with mild symptoms that include fever, headache and body aches. A smaller number develop West Nile encephalitis or meningitis, with more severe symptoms, including headache, high fever, stupor, coma and convulsions.

Earlier studies had found scattered cases of nerve damage among seriously ill West Nile patients. In the new study, researchers followed 28 patients from Rush, Loyola, University Medical Center and Cook County's Stroger Hospital. The findings indicate the virus might have mutated into a more dangerous form, Watson said.

"It's more severe than in past epidemics," she said. "It's presenting with more virulent and more aggressive symptoms."

But Dr. Sidney Houff, a Loyola University neurologist who co-authored the study, said it's unlikely the virus has mutated.

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