Presidential pandemic adviser and former head of the NIAI, Anthony Fauci, faced a new health challenge this month. According to his spokesperson, Fauci was recently hospitalized.
The New York Post reports:
“A full recovery is expected,” the spokeswoman, Jenn Kuzmuk, said in a statement on Sunday on behalf of Dr. Fauci, 83, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
She did not elaborate on where he was hospitalized or for how long.
Dr. Jonathan LaPook, the chief medical correspondent for CBS News, shared on social media that Dr. Fauci had told him that he had fever, chills and severe fatigue and that he was hospitalized this month. Dr. Fauci said he was most likely infected by a mosquito bite that he got in his backyard, Dr. LaPook said.
People become infected with the virus after mosquitoes feed on infected birds and then bite people, according to the C.D.C.
“People are considered dead-end hosts because, unlike birds, they do not develop high enough levels of virus in their bloodstream and cannot pass the virus on to other biting mosquitoes,” the agency says on its website.
CNN reports that each year, approximately 1,000 Americans are hospitalized with the most severe form of West Nile virus, a disease transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Additionally, an average of 1,500 people are diagnosed annually after showing symptoms, though experts suggest that up to 80% of infections in the U.S. go undetected.
Currently, there is no vaccine or specific treatment available for West Nile virus. While the majority of cases are mild, resulting in flu-like symptoms and sometimes a rash, about 1 in 150 infections can become severe. In these cases, the virus can penetrate the brain and nervous system, leading to serious complications such as brain swelling, permanent brain damage, or even death. On average, West Nile virus claims the lives of around 100 people in the U.S. each year.
The virus tends to be most active in the late summer months of August and September. As of August 20, preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 216 cases have been reported this year across 33 states, with 142 of those being neuroinvasive cases.
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