Skopje, 19 September 2024 (MIA) - Eighty percent of patients infected with the West Nile fever virus are asymptomatic. Around 19 percent experience mild symptoms - slight fever, muscle pain, exhaustion, sometimes without even knowing they had the infection. One percent of the cases can develop neurological manifestations, said director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic, Fadil Cana, on Thursday, after the country registered the first death from West Nile fever. 

“One percent of cases, especially those older than 75, can develop neurological manifestations, like in this specific case where we have a 77-year-old patient who developed such neurological manifestation, which can end in death. What we, the world, and the scientific public know, is that there is no specific treatment for the West Nile fever. One method of prevention are disinsection programs, authorized by municipalities or other institutions," Cana said.

He noted that the patient, who passed away at the Infectious Diseases Clinic, was previously admitted to the Kochani General Hospital, then transferred to the hospital in Shtip, and finally the Infectious Diseases Clinic. According to him, the patient's medical history is short, and he probably lived alone.

"The deceased patient was 77-years-old. It is unknown how long he'd been ill. Information was provided that he exhibited fever, aggressiveness, and anxiety. It is true that upon admission he had a fever, but we don't know for long, it cannot be stated with certainty. The patient was hospitalized here with such neurological manifestations. No one can say for certain why his medical history is so short, whether he had taken any medication previously, but only one day previously the symptoms corresponded to the condition and diagnosis. The Public Health Institute confirmed a few days later that the serum, analyzed from the patient, detected the presence of the West Nile virus," Cana explained.

He cannot say for certain whether there is risk of the virus spreading, only that statistics show that the disinsection programs are the only prevention method. ssh/nn/

Photo: MIA