Posted on 09/04/2002 1:45:54 PM PDT by newsperson999
SPRINGFIELD, IL The total number of Illinois human cases of West Nile virus illness now stands at 211 with the addition today of 46 new cases of the mosquito-transmitted disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health has announced.
Human cases have now been identified in 21 of the state's 102 counties, including four counties Crawford, Kane, Lake and Stephenson that today reported their first cases. There have been nine deaths attributable to West Nile infection.
The new cases reported today include 13 from the city of Chicago, 25 from suburban Cook County, two from St. Clair County, and one each from Crawford, Effingham, Kane, Lake, Stephenson and Will counties.
CHICAGO: An 87-year-old man, whose hospital information is not known; a 64-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; a 73-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 47-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 50-year-old man, who was hospitalized; a 67-year-old woman, who was hospitalized; a 76-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 59-year-old woman, who was hospitalized; a 43-year-old man, whose hospital information is not known; a 14-year-old girl, who was hospitalized; a 15-year-old boy, who was hospitalized; a 14-year-old girl, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; and a 45-year-old man with West Nile fever, who was not hospitalized
SUBURBAN (NORTHERN) COOK COUNTY: An 80-year-old man, whose hospital information is not known; a 76-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 55-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 61-year-old man, who was not hospitalized; a 69-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 2-year-old girl, whose hospital information is not known; a 39-year-old woman with West Nile fever, whose hospital information is not known; a 37-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 55-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 30-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 79-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; a 58-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; an 83-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile fever; and a 32-year-old man, whose hospital information is not known.
SUBURBAN (SOUTHERN) COOK COUNTY: A 21-year-old woman, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; a 33-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; a 34-year-old man, who was hospitalized; a 73-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known; a 65-year-old woman, who was hospitalized; a 51-year-old man, who was hospitalized; a 42-year-old woman with West Nile encephalitis, who was not hospitalized; an 82-year-old woman, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; a 60-year-old man, who was hospitalized; 62-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis; and a 37-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known.
CRAWFORD: A 61-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis.
EFFINGHAM COUNTY: A 77-year-old woman with West Nile fever, who was not hospitalized.
KANE COUNTY: A 47-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile encephalitis.
LAKE COUNTY: A 53-year-old woman with West Nile fever, who was not hospitalized.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY: A 39-year-old man, whose hospital information is not known; and a 67-year-old woman, whose hospital information is not known.
STEPHENSON COUNTY: A 41-year-old man with West Nile encephalitis, who was not hospitalized.
WILL COUNTY: A 41-year-old man, who was hospitalized with West Nile fever.
Human cases have been identified in Chicago and 21 Illinois counties: Chicago (47), Clinton County (1), suburban Cook County (116), Crawford County (1), DeKalb County (1), DuPage County (9), Effingham County (3), Ford County (1), Jackson County (2), Kane County (1), Lake County (1), LaSalle County (3), Macoupin County (1), Madison County (4), Montgomery County (1), Moultrie County (1), Sangamon County (1), Shelby County (1), Stark County (1), Stephenson County (1), St. Clair County (6) and Will County (8). The average age of the Illinois cases is 55.1.
Never ceases to amaze me how people just pass, what could and most likely will be, a devastating epidemic, off as just a low grade virus. When this thing first started a couple of years ago, we were told that there would hardly be any additional cases. Looks like we passed that stage a few months ago. Personally I am still not convinced that WNV wasn't deliberately introduced to the USA by a foreign source.
Yeah, like we got used to polio and small pox. Medical science will never whip this one. We might as well give up. That's the American way.
One is a politicaaly-correct virus; the other is not. (Personally, I believe AIDS could be transmitted by a mosquito...why not?)
BigBobber: Yeah, like we got used to polio and small pox. Medical science will never whip this one. We might as well give up. That's the American way.
May I point out the following chemical has been very successfully used:
My wife is in medicine, she and her coworkers have thought the same thing!
Not to nitpick, but you would get HIV not AIDS from the mosquito. Anyway, WNV and HIV are two different types of viruses, you can think of them as being analogous to two different species. HIV doesn't do well outside of the body, nor does it do well in the body of a mosquito. Most of your mosquito born viruses have evolved a rather interesting relationship with the mosquito that allows for their transmission from host to host (if you'd like more info on this, and it's fasciniating, I'll dig it up for you). HIV doesn't need this - humans seem to manage to have enough sex and shoot up enough drugs to pass the virus along just fine.
From the CDC:
"If HIV were being transmitted through other routes (such as through air, water, or insects), the pattern of reported AIDS cases would be much different from what has been observed. For example, if mosquitoes could transmit HIV infection, many more young children and preadolescents would have been diagnosed with AIDS."
As much as it pains me to say it, you are not the first or only person to entertain this thought. I must ask you then, "For what purpose?" To make a few people sick and even fewer, mostly old people, die? Sorry for the skepticism, but there are a million other things far more deadly that a 'foreign source' could introduce than WNV.
Not a problem :-)
Why the devil would an enemy go to the trouble merely to introduce a disease that has so little effect?
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