Even if you feel a cool breeze in the air, summer isn’t exactly over—and the bugs that come with it are apparently still thriving, mosquitoes included. According to a statement from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOH), two cases of West Nile virus have been reported recently—one in Brooklyn and one in Queens—and many more mosquitoes in the area are carrying the virus this year. Recent testing detected 1,068 West Nile–positive mosquito samples collected across the city’s five boroughs. This is the highest number ever recorded, up from 779 last year, per the statement.
But this isn’t the first time questions and concerns about West Nile virus have popped up this summer. As of August 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says 54 cases of West Nile virus disease have been reported throughout the country.
It is worth noting that West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental US—but does that mean you need to worry about your next itchy bite? Below, what you should keep in mind as mosquitoes continue to annoy you through the early fall months.
How does West Nile virus spread?
West Nile virus spreads when an infected mosquito bites a person and begins to feed on their blood. While this is the primary way West Nile virus is transmitted, it has also been spread in laboratory settings, during organ transplants, during blood transfusions, and from mother to baby (during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding), though these instances are rare, per the CDC. West Nile virus isn’t spread human-to-human the way some viruses are; for instance, it is not spread through touching, coughing, or sneezing.
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There is no vaccine for West Nile virus, nor are there specific treatments for the illness that can be caused by the virus, Nicholas Defelice, PhD, a researcher at Mount Sinai who works on forecast models for West Nile virus, tells SELF. Most people who become infected with the virus (about 8 out of 10) won’t develop any symptoms, Dr. Defelice says. If you end up being the 1 in 5 people who do get sick from the virus, you may experience a fever, headache, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea, or a skin rash, per the CDC.
About 1 in 150 people with West Nile virus develop severe illness that impacts the central nervous system. This could lead to encephalitis (brain inflammation) or meningitis (inflammation of the structures that surround the spinal cord and brain); about 1 in 10 people who develop severe illness from West Nile virus die, per the CDC. Severe illness can occur no matter your age, but people over 60 are more at-risk, as are people who have received an organ transplant and people with certain health conditions, including cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease.
So…should you be worried about West Nile virus right now?
Look, we get it: Any news of an illness spread by a blood-sucking bug can feel a bit unsettling, especially after what the world has been through over the past two years (and even the last two weeks). But it’s important to remember that West Nile virus is relatively rare, even though it’s the most common illness spread by mosquitoes: In 2020, there were 731 confirmed cases nationwide, per the most recent data available from the CDC. Compare that to Lyme disease, of which there are roughly 30,000 reported cases (and an estimated total of 476,000 cases) a year.
Source: SELF
