Doctors link polio to West Nile virus

Boston Globe ^ | September 24, 2002 | Stephen Smith

[sarcasm]

In case reports released yesterday, stunned neurologists in Mississippi and Georgia describe the conditions of four patients suffering from the hobbled limbs, impaired breathing, and fevers that are the hallmark of polio, a disease essentially eradicated in the United States.

[piasa]

There's no telling with journalists these days since few of them took science or math in school. The first part of the article leads you to think the stuff is able to somehow cause polio, and the headline too, but of course that's to be expected since hysteria sells newspapers. The latter part of the article implies more of a polio-like symptom associated with West Nile, which seems more plausible.

But what I was referring to was the possibility of deliberate manipulation of the genes by replacing part of the strand with a section from something else, and wondering if this could be done with WN and polio and if the results would be worth the effort for some scuzzball, or would they produce similar symptoms. Presumably the genome of both would have to be mapped out first, but I simply don't know.

[js1138]

Viruses causes different symptoms in different populations. West Nile is probably more severe in the U.S. because we haven't lived with it.

Now if you suspect the cases are due to deliberate introduction, I'm paranoid enough to listen to that. It wouldn't take much effort.

[piasa]

Polio as far as I know isn't a generic term- last time I heard it was a specific virus, which is why we were all able to be immunized to it. Whether it's used correctly here or is just referring to similar symptoms, is another story.

[okie01]

Food for thought ping.

The Iraqi defector's report had it that Saddam's labs had somehow altered WNV...

[js1138]

Just out of curiosity I did a net search on the word "polio". One interesting link was labeled "Buy polio products." Intrigued, I clicked on and was led to eBay, where I found 24 bits of memorabilia for sale.

[Mitchell]

The Iraqi defector's report had it that Saddam's labs had somehow altered WNV...

Yes, that was what the defector Mikhael Ramadan said. And he said it months before the outbreak in New York. I've read nothing specific, however, about the specific effects of the supposed strain of the various except that it was said to be very virulent. We don't know, for instance, if it produced polio-like symptoms.

Ramadan's book, "In the Shadow of Saddam," seems hard to find, unfortunately.

[goldstategop]

The enviro wackos affection for mosquitoes has brought back polio to the United States. I hope the good nature lovers are happy with the sight of people having to be tethered to an iron lung for the rest of their lives.

[blam]

Evening bump.

[dasboot]

PING
I told you I got it.

[realpatriot71]

Actually the damage associated with both viruses occurs because they replicate and kill cells found in the CNS. No variation to WNV would really be necessary in this case.

[realpatriot71]

Do you think this will be enough to make some of the "it couldn't be terrorism" crowd to rethink their position?

Respectfully - no

[realpatriot71]

Trust me on this one, if we've got to rely on neurologists to diagnose this, we could be in big trouble. Doctors are going to have to think "outside the box" in order to diagnose this.

In defense of the docs, you spend all day long dealing with "horses" so I wouldn't be too hard on them when they don't immediately notice the "zebras" that show up very rarely. The body of knowledge within even a sub-specialty is so great that no one single human being can have cognitive access to it at a single moment. Sometimes a take a while and a bit of work to show alternatives as rational a differential diagnosis.

[RnMomof7]

Will the normal Polio vaccine protect from this strain?..yea I have never had them...:>)

[realpatriot71]

I have been experiencing unusual joint pain myself.

Good - not the pain - but this means, outside of any other described symptoms, you DON'T have any muscle paralysis that would be associated with polio or WNV.

[realpatriot71]

Will the normal Polio vaccine protect from this strain?

No - different families of viruses

[RnMomof7]

Glad I did not waste my time of the Salk or Sabin then

[Vince Ferrer]

How about Bats

[the_doc]

I agree with your interpretation of the article. Salk's polio virus is not necessarily even related to the West Nile virus.

Of course, today's OPV vaccine would not be expected to protect against West Nile virus (nor vice versa when a WN vaccine is distributed).

[the_doc]

I doubt it. See my #38.

[texasbluebell]

bump