Who is at risk of severe illness due to WNV? Who is at risk of death?
A. Most people infected with WNV have no symptoms whatsoever. About 20% of infected develop West Nile fever including mild symptoms of fever, headache, and body aches, occasionally with a skin rash on the trunk of the body and swollen lymph glands lasting a few days. About 1 in 150 persons infected with WNV develop a more severe form of disease resulting in encephalitis, meningitis, or meningoencephalitis, requiring hospitalization. Symptoms of severe disease may last several weeks, although neurological effects may be permanent. More than 4,000 cases of WNV were confirmed in the U.S. in 2002 and 6% of those people died. People over the age of 50 are most susceptible to severe symptoms requiring hospitalization.