(Press-News.org) Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Fort Collins, Colo., and colleagues conducted a review of the medical literature and national surveillance data to examine the ecology, virology, epidemiology, clinical characteristics, diagnosis, prevention, and control of West Nile virus.
"West Nile virus has become endemic in all 48 contiguous United States as well as all Canadian provinces since its discovery in North America in New York City in 1999. It has produced the 3 largest arbovirai neuroinvasive disease (encephalitis, meningitis, or acute flaccid paralysis) outbreaks ever recorded in the United States, with nearly 3,000 cases of neuroinvasive disease recorded each year in 2002, 2003, and 2012,"according to background information in the article.
The authors found that since 1999, there have been 16,196 human neuroinvasive disease cases and 1,549 deaths reported; more than 780,000 illnesses have likely occurred. Incidence is highest in the Midwest from mid-July to early September. "West Nile fever develops in approximately 25 percent of those infected, varies greatly in clinical severity, and symptoms may be prolonged. Neuroinvasive disease (meningitis, encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis) develops in less than 1 percent but carries a fatality rate of approximately 10 percent. Encephalitis has a highly variable clinical course but often is associated with considerable long-term morbidity. Approximately two-thirds of those with paralysis remain with significant weakness in affected limbs."
The authors add that diagnosis usually rests on detection of IgM antibody in serum or cerebrospinal fluid. No licensed human vaccine exists. "Prevention uses an integrated pest management approach, which focuses on surveillance, elimination of mosquito breeding sites, and larval and adult mosquito management using pesticides to keep mosquito populations low. During outbreaks or impending outbreaks, emphasis shifts to aggressive adult mosquito control to reduce the abundance of infected, biting mosquitoes. Pesticide exposure and adverse human health events following adult mosquito control operations for West Nile virus appear negligible."
"The resurgence of West Nile virus in 2012 after several years of decreasing incidence in the United States suggests that West Nile virus will continue to produce unpredictable local and regional outbreaks," the researchers write. "… sustainable community-based surveillance and vector management programs are critical, particularly in metropolitan areas with a history of West Nile virus and large human populations at risk."
###
(JAMA. 2013;310[3]:308-315. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Review article describes epidemiology, characteristics and prevention of West Nile virus
2013-07-17
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Combination therapy may help improve rate of favorable neurological status following cardiac arrest
2013-07-17
Among patients who experienced in-hospital cardiac arrest requiring vasopressors (drugs that increase blood pressure), use of a combination therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in improved survival to hospital discharge with favorable neurological status, according to a study in the July 17 issue of JAMA.
"Neurological outcome after cardiac arrest has been the main end point of several randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Neurologically favorable survival differs from overall survival. Among cardiac arrest survivors, the prevalence of severe cerebral ...
Use of ADT for treatment of prostate cancer linked with increased risk of kidney injury
2013-07-17
In a study that included more than 10,000 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer, use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was associated with a significantly increased risk of acute kidney injury, with variations observed with certain types of ADTs, according to a study in the July 17 issue of JAMA.
"Androgen deprivation therapy is the mainstay treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer. While this therapy has been traditionally reserved for patients with advanced disease, ADT is increasingly being used in patients with less severe forms of the cancer, such ...
Nursing home residents with advanced cognitive impairment who undergo multiple hospitalizations
2013-07-17
"Multiple hospitalizations for complications from a terminal illness may be burdensome for elderly patients and reflect poor quality care," write Joan M. Teno, M.D., M.S., of the Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University, Providence, R.I., and colleagues, who conducted a study to examine whether the occurrence of multiple hospitalizations for the complications of infections or dehydration was associated with survival.
As reported in a Research Letter, the study population was identified using data from the national Minimum Data Set repository, which includes ...
Greatly increased risk of stroke for patients who don't adhere to anti-hypertensive medication
2013-07-17
People with high blood pressure, who don't take their anti-hypertensive drug treatments when they should, have a greatly increased risk of suffering a stroke and dying from it compared to those who take their medication correctly.
A study of 73,527 patients with high blood pressure, published online today (Wednesday) in the European Heart Journal [1], found that patients who did not adhere to their medication had a nearly four-fold increased risk of dying from stroke in the second year after first being prescribed drugs to control their blood pressure, and a three-fold ...
Mosquito indexing system identifies best time to combat potential West Nile Virus outbreaks
2013-07-17
DALLAS – July 16, 2013 – UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have unlocked some of the mysteries of West Nile virus outbreaks and shown that use of a mosquito vector-index rating system works well to identify the best time for early intervention.
West Nile infections in humans can cause long-term neurological damage and even death. The investigation analyzed a decade of West Nile infections, weather, and housing data. The 2012 data – from the nation's largest West Nile outbreak that occurred in Dallas County, Texas – revealed that the best way to avoid an outbreak ...
Length of time a young adult is obese linked with development of silent heart disease
2013-07-17
WHAT: The length of time a young adult is obese is associated with the development of silent, or subclinical, heart disease in middle age, independent of body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference, according to National Institutes of Health-supported research. Each year that a young adult is obese increases that person's risk of developing coronary artery calcification, a subclinical predictor of heart disease, by 2 to 4 percent.
These findings were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Obesity is a risk factor for subclinical heart ...
New nanoscale imaging method finds application in plasmonics
2013-07-17
Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have shown how to make nanoscale measurements of critical properties of plasmonic nanomaterials—the specially engineered nanostructures that modify the interaction of light and matter for a variety of applications, including sensors, cloaking (invisibility), photovoltaics and therapeutics.
Their technique is one of the few that allows researchers to make actual physical measurements of these materials at the nanoscale without affecting the nanomaterial's function.
Plasmonic ...
UCLA researchers find link between intestinal bacteria and white blood cell cancer
2013-07-17
Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that specific types of bacteria that live in the gut are major contributors to lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.
Published online ahead of press today in the journal Cancer Research, the study was led by Robert Schiestl, member of the Jonsson Cancer Center and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, environmental health sciences, and radiation oncology.
In rodents, intestinal bacteria influence obesity, intestinal inflammation and certain types of epithelial cancers. (Epithelial ...
Steering stem cells with magnets
2013-07-17
Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells' healing powers to treat conditions such as heart disease or vascular disease.
By feeding stem cells tiny particles made of iron oxide, scientists at Emory and Georgia Tech can use magnets to attract the cells to a particular location in the body after intravenous injection.
The results are published online in the journal Small and will appear in an upcoming issue.
The paper was a result of collaboration between the laboratories of W. Robert Taylor, MD, PhD, and Gang Bao, PhD. Taylor is professor of medicine and biomedical ...
Ecological forces structure your body's personal mix of microbes
2013-07-17
Environmental conditions have a much stronger influence on the mix of microbes living in various parts of your body than does competition between species. Instead of excluding each other, microbes that fiercely compete for similar resources are more likely to cohabit the same individual.
This phenomenon was discovered in a recent study of the human microbiome – the vast collection of our resident bacteria, fungi, and other tiny organisms.
The findings were published in the early online edition of PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study ...