Question
My friend (and room mate) of 24 years has been having muscle/joint pains, abdominal pains, diarrhea, headaches, fever and a rash for several days and this morning he went to the doctor who told him that he strongly suspected it was west nile virus. The doctor also drew blood (results will be in next week).
My friend is 60 years old and although his fever has gone down in recent days (from 103-99) and he seems to be feeling somewhat better, I am still concerned for him. I don't know all that much about WNV accept the little bit I hear on the news every so often. Is this some sort of horrible "death sentence" where the infected person foams at the mouth and convulses on the floor in agony (I'm being facisious, of course) or is this something that passes after awhile?.
I already suffer from anxiety, hypochondria and depression so this has got my nerves going crazy just thinking about it. Think about if it happened to your best friend, wife, child or even your pet )-: .
I know some of you will probably read this and just think "heh, bummer" and then move on to the next post but I ask you to please respond in any way that you can before you do. This is new and frightening to me and I REALLY AM scared!. Even a short reply, words of comfort or some information about a personal experience with WNV involving you, a family member or friend would go a long ways in reducing the level of anxiety I am feeling right now.
Thank you VERY much!!
(edited for typos)
[This message has been edited by GreenEggs (edited 08-28-2003).]
Answer
Ok, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. It's going to be ok, really.
No, WNV is NOT a death sentence! In fact, a good friend of mine had it last year, it was misdiagnosed as various other things, and they didn't actually find out what it was till she was already on the mend. Granted, it took her a while to recover fully (she just felt yucky and flu-y and had a sore throat and a cough for ages). But it wasn't serious enough for her to be hospitalized or anything.
I know I can say "try not to worry" till I'm blue in the face, and it won't do you a lick of good. So worry away, but don't let your fear control your life. It will all be ok! I've only heard of one person dying (at least in this area) from the virus. So even if he does have it, his chances of recovering are very good.
Hang in there and keep us posted! Pass on to him my best wishes to him for a speedy recovery!
Answer
West Nile is a serious disease, anything that causes a high fever is. However it is not a death sentance, very few diseases are really. I am not sure about treatments but at least part of it will be treating the symptoms such as aspirin or acetominaphen to keep the fever lower.
The death rate of West Nile is, I believe, only slightly higher than that of influenza.
If your roomate is fairly healthy to begin with he should be able to get through this, 60 isn't that old.
Part of the reason West Nile gets so much press is that it is simply new to this side of the Atlantic. Influenza is a lot more prevalent and malaria kills a lot more people but we don't hear about them because they are "old hat". With hype comes increased fear, recognize it for what it is not what you fear it might be because it's an unknown.
Answer
First of all, let me say THANK YOU!!!. I do feel somewhat better now . Still obviously concerned though which I guess is just natural in a situation like this.
I went into the kitchen a little bit ago and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw him standing over the sink doing dishes. At least he was getting around some. Then he finished up, sat down at the kitchen table and we were talking and and joking for about ten minutes. Suddenly I see his head kind of go over to one side as if he was falling asleep and he jerked it back up again and said "I think I'd better go lay down for awhile" and I said "Are you all right???". He told me that this was really zapping the energy out of him and now he's in the bedroom (hopefully he'll be ok). What suprized me was the "suddeness" of it all. I mean, one minute he's talking and joking and then...POOF...he looked like a limp rag doll.
While we were talking, he did mention a woman (who is a friend-of-a-friend of his) who had "probable" WNV and he said she looked "just horrible". This was'nt exactly encouraging and made me really start to worry!.How long does this usually last and does it have any long term effects?. I'm sure even if he get's over it (hopefully), he will still feel weak and tired for awhile.
Once again, thank you VERY much for responding!. I'll take all the help, encouragement and advice I can get right now and I'll definately keep you all updated as time goes on. Please feel free to continue responding while I sit here chewing my nails down to the stubs
Answer
hereubb/smile.gif
. Still obviously concerned though which I guess is just natural in a situation like this.
I went into the kitchen a little bit ago and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw him standing over the sink doing dishes. At least he was getting around some. Then he finished up, sat down at the kitchen table and we were talking and and joking for about ten minutes. Suddenly I see his head kind of go over to one side as if he was falling asleep and he jerked it back up again and said "I think I'd better go lay down for awhile" and I said "Are you all right???". He told me that this was really zapping the energy out of him and now he's in the bedroom (hopefully he'll be ok). What suprized me was the "suddeness" of it all. I mean, one minute he's talking and joking and then...POOF...he looked like a limp rag doll.
While we were talking, he did mention a woman (who is a friend-of-a-friend of his) who had "probable" WNV and he said she looked "just horrible". This was'nt exactly encouraging and made me really start to worry!.How long does this usually last and does it have any long term effects?. I'm sure even if he get's over it (hopefully), he will still feel weak and tired for awhile.
Once again, thank you VERY much for responding!. I'll take all the help, encouragement and advice I can get right now and I'll definately keep you all updated as time goes on. Please feel free to continue responding while I sit here chewing my nails down to the stubs . Still obviously concerned though which I guess is just natural in a situation like this.
I went into the kitchen a little bit ago and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw him standing over the sink doing dishes. At least he was getting around some. Then he finished up, sat down at the kitchen table and we were talking and and joking for about ten minutes. Suddenly I see his head kind of go over to one side as if he was falling asleep and he jerked it back up again and said "I think I'd better go lay down for awhile" and I said "Are you all right???". He told me that this was really zapping the energy out of him and now he's in the bedroom (hopefully he'll be ok). What suprized me was the "suddeness" of it all. I mean, one minute he's talking and joking and then...POOF...he looked like a limp rag doll.
While we were talking, he did mention a woman (who is a friend-of-a-friend of his) who had "probable" WNV and he said she looked "just horrible". This was'nt exactly encouraging and made me really start to worry!.How long does this usually last and does it have any long term effects?. I'm sure even if he get's over it (hopefully), he will still feel weak and tired for awhile.
Once again, thank you VERY much for responding!. I'll take all the help, encouragement and advice I can get right now and I'll definately keep you all updated as time goes on. Please feel free to continue responding while I sit here chewing my nails down to the stubs
Answer
hereubb/smile.gif
Answer
well i want to be realistic, people do die from wnv but it is very rare. i was just watching the news. there was a large outbreak in the cases of wnv this past week. i forgot the numbers but it was in the thousands yet only about 10 people died from it. so if he does have it, the odds are in his favor.
but yeah lol, im glad you are relieved about it. everytime i get a mosquito bite i tell myself oh no its west nile! i scare myself like crazy but calm down afterwards. man i hate these mosuqitos in the summer
Answer
well i want to be realistic, people do die from wnv but it is very rare. i was just watching the news. there was a large outbreak in the cases of wnv this past week. i forgot the numbers but it was in the thousands yet only about 10 people died from it. so if he does have it, the odds are in his favor.
but yeah lol, im glad you are relieved about it. everytime i get a mosquito bite i tell myself oh no its west nile! i scare myself like crazy but calm down afterwards. man i hate these mosuqitos in the summer gotta move further north one day. but for anyone, whether you are a hypochondriac or not, do take precaution when going outdoors during the peak hours of mosquitos outside (sunrise and sunset). as for me, i just keep myself indoors.
