Fighting West Nile's Spread: Bout with Disease Spurs San Jose Man

SJ Mercury News ^ | 6/26/2005 | John Woolfolk

[ex-Texan]

Max del Hierro never saw the mosquito, and thought little of the itchy welt on his right ankle. But that bite in August was the start of a painful, crippling ordeal that nearly cost the San Jose computer engineer his life, and has since given him a new sense of purpose.

* * *

Del Hierro was well aware of West Nile virus before he contracted it. He knew that dead birds had been found infected with the virus in the hills where he liked to walk and bike. But it didn't occur to him that he might have caught the disease when he started feeling sick.

* * *

It was almost two weeks after he was bitten that he started feeling sick. It started on a Wednesday with stiffness and numbness in his legs, particularly the bitten limb. He was in pain, and had trouble walking. He soldiered through at work, where he was meeting some new bosses. By the time he got home Thursday, he was nauseated and feverish, and went to an urgent care clinic. He was told he had a routine virus and sent home.

* * *

It was even worse the next morning. He had been up all night, twitching and tossing. He could barely get out of bed. Del Hierro checked in to an emergency room, but was sent home again. By that Sunday, Aug. 29, del Hierro was delirious with a 104-degree fever and taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital. He was so dehydrated, he recalled, that his skin seemed to sag off his bones.

[ex-Texan]

West Nile virus has sickened more than 16,500 Americans and killed 656 since the first U.S. case was reported in 1999. Rumors abound on the web saying that Saddam was responsible for the virus from Africa entering into the U.S. There are also rumors this virus may have been launched from Cuba by sending infected pigeons into the New York. Of course, Castro and Saddam may have been working together. But I believe in stupid coincidences just like most of the MSM in America.

Only last week, people were reporting dead birds dropping out of the sky in Oregon. Dead birds are being found all over the state. Scientific tests are being conducted for West Nile.

[satchmodog9]

Quite the plague. What a media generated joke. The media in Illinois run with these West Nile stries all summer evey year and the truth is very few people even get sick from it. Most people get a gut ache for a day or two and that is it.

[EggsAckley]

My solution to the mosquito problem: Mosquito Magnet.

[ex-Texan]

This guy nearly died from West Nile. He cannot exercise now like he did before. He went through eleven months of hell. But he did not die:

[H]e still suffers numbness in the foot where the mosquito sucked his blood and injected him with the virus. He feels like he has lost his adrenaline. The mountain bike he loved to ride through the foothills near his home sits idle.

Santa Clara County public health officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib said del Hierro had an unusually severe case. Eight out of 10 people infected with West Nile virus develop no symptoms, and most of the rest experience only mild illness, he said. Only about one out of 150 infected people develop severe symptoms like del Hierro's, he said.

[satchmodog9]

Like I said, pretty rare cases.

[null and void]

Ping

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Ping

[martin_fierro]

The thing I heard about those is that they work pretty well -- but that they naturally atract the greatest concentration of skeeters to YOUR YARD.

The suggested solution was to give one to your NEIGHBOR.

[martin_fierro]

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[nickcarraway]

I knew playing golf raises your risk of being infected by West Nile. That's why I steer clear of it.

[EggsAckley]

Martin, it does seem to attract a lot of them, but the attractant is focused on the females, the ones who bite. I'm noticing a lot of mosquitos this year due to the heavy rains, but they're not biting. It's a huge relief for us.

[riri]

The president of my husband's fly fishing club was bed ridden for 6 weeks with WNV last summer.

A guy down the road had it. He developed encephilatis and was hospitalized for nearly 3 weeks. He nearly died. He still sufferes nerve damage in one hnd because of it. And both of these people were healthy, in their early 30's.

[hdstmf]

My daughter got "The bite" two years ago. She suffered severe
pains for a year, had to use a wheel chair and was unable to
work. Brain surgery was needed to remove blood clots. She has
recovered with only 5% mental loss and some reduced mobility
loss. As a mid-thirties single mom with two children it was/is
tough. Six other people infected in the same time and area were infected. Three died. My daughter is a fighter or she
would not have made it.

You may see this West Nile thing as "The sky is falling!"
I hope you never face the results of such little bite.

[satchmodog9]

Sorry to hear about your daughter. The truth is odds are against someone getting severely ill from it. Anecdotal evidence is still no reason to have the media carpet bombing us with the scares they have been pounding us with for the past few years. Doctors have said many of us in this area may have already been infected and never knew. I don't know if the press sees what happened in Africa and are too stupid to realize people in this country are just too healthy and well fed to be affected by this. That being said, the usual applies to West Nile; small children, the elderly and the immune suppressed. I pray for your daughters recovery.

[bored at work]

My deepest condolences to your daughter.