A new infection that is worryingOn Monday, August 12, 2024, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) reported that three cases of West Nile virus infection had been identified in the Var department.
It is a virus that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. and which can have dramatic consequences. For good reason, if it is most often asymptomatic, it can cause an intense fever or even, in rarer cases,
neurological complications.
If it is mosquitoes that transmit the virus to humans, These insects catch it from migratory birds which are the reservoir of the West Nile virus.. Mosquitoes become infected after feeding on infected birds and then the virus. Then, mosquitoes transmit it to humans or other animals through bites.
The virus can only very rarely be transmitted between humans.
The ARS nevertheless wanted to point out that “Humans and horses are ‘accidental hosts’ of the virus. There is no transmission of the virus from human to human via mosquitoes.“.
The same goes for horses, who can catch the virus but cannot transmit it to each other. However, it has already been reported that cases of transmission between men could have occurred during blood transfusionsduring organ transplants or breastfeeding.One case of transplacental transmission of WNV (from mother to child) has been reported“, added the WHO.
Most of the time, symptoms of West Nile virus are asymptomatic.
Regarding the symptoms of this virus, it is asymptomatic in 80% of cases. For those who do have a reaction, it seems that they have to deal with a sudden high fever, which appears between 3 and 6 days after being infected.
However, more serious cases have already been reported, such as
neurological complications (meningitis, encephalitis). However, such symptoms occur in less than 1% of cases. Other complications (hepatitis, pancreatitis or myocarditis) may also appear.
