Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine
Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine Ma'ayenei Hayeshua
Hospital
It was August of last year. Two patients in the city of New
York come in to the hospital unconscious. Tests are done,
specialists are called in but the patients never recover
consciousness.
The prestigious Center for Disease Control in Atlanta is
called in and makes a startling discovery: a virus previously
unknown to Western world had arrived to the shores of New
York. Called the West Nile virus, common in Egypt, it usually
is the cause of an illness of malaise, sever headache, eye
pain, and abrupt high fever. However in the elderly and the
very young the course of the illness is a lot more serious
and can cause encephalitis, that is inflammation of the
brain, which often results in death.
This caused the Americans to take the disease very seriously;
but this horrible virus was not finished yet. In Israel this
year, the virus has made a major appearance. As of the
writing of this column, the virus has caused 120
hospitalizations and over 20 deaths. There is, as of now, no
accepted treatment, so this is causing much concern. We
cannot be sure it won't hit the European continent as it did
in the U.S.A.
The problem is that this virus is spread through mosquitoes.
Countries with sanitation problems and areas of still, fouled
water have serious problems with mosquitoes. Destroying them
with pesticides that do not endanger the environment is not
simple and often expensive. In Israel, they often use
kerosene which was the cause of deaths of the athletes who
fell in the Yarkon river during the 1997 Maccabiah games.
Let's speak about you. Until the cooler weather sets in, this
epidemic is likely to continue. The Ministry of Health does
recommend that elderly people who go outside should wear
mosquito repellent. Windows should be closed at night or
screens should be used.
Assumedly, babies should follow the same guidelines. Check
their rooms before they go to sleep: mosquitoes like to
congregate around lights and on widows. I have found that
using a damp towel and throwing it at the mosquitoes on the
ceiling is effective and does not leave any residue
behind.
Let us daven that we all stay health. Write me in care of the
Yated.
A Message from Glaxo, sponsor of this column: Glaxo would
like me to remind you about Lamictal, their product for
problem seizures. Seizures can often be controlled with less
powerful medications, but if not Lamictal may be the
solution. Speak with your neurologist.
