Martha Humes OR, Nancy Williamson, PA

April 27, 2004 West Nile virus victims participate in study By Gloria Butler Baldwin Special to The Clarion-Ledger Vickie D. King/The Clarion-Ledger Nancy Williamson, 48, (left) of King of Prussia, Pa., and her husband, Dan, talk of the progress Nancy has made after she contracted the West Nile virus during a camping trip. The Williamsons are in Jackson after researching the virus on the Internet to participate in medical research studies conducted at the Methodist Rehabilitation Center. About the West Nile virus In Mississippi in 2003, there were about 81 human cases of West Nile virus and two deaths, compared with 193 cases and 12 deaths in 2002. The mosquito-borne virus can produce a range of symptoms, from a mild flulike illness to various degrees of paralysis to death. People with weakened immune systems, whether from age, illness or medications such as steroids and immunosuppressive therapies, are at risk of developing the most serious symptoms of the illness. A mosquito bite propelled Martha Humes, 33, and 48-year old Nancy Williamson of King of Prussia, Pa., out of their comfort zones and into wheelchairs. But a determined Humes, who lives in Portland, Ore., and Williamson found hope for recovering from West Nile virus on the Internet and a way to help others at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson. They're in Mississippi for several days as part of an ongoing study of the virus being conducted by Methodist Rehabilitation physicians and researchers. Living thousands of miles apart, Williamson and Humes independently ran across the hospital's West Nile virus research. Both diagnosed in September 2003 within days of each other, the women continue to cope with complications and varying degrees of paralysis caused by the disease. "I'm not sure if I contracted it in Michigan or Oregon, but they say the incubation period is eight to 10 days," said Humes, who moved to Oregon last summer from Ann Arbor, Mich. After her eventual diagnosis, Humes said, she spent 10 days in a cardiac unit and then six weeks in rehabilitation. Williamson, who uses a walker and wears a leg brace, said doctors first thought she had a sinus infection. A spinal tap finally revealed the disease. "I have hand controls on my car. ... You learn to compensate and look for what you can do, not what you can't do," she said. Vickie D. King/The Clarion-Ledger "I was in the process of moving," said Martha Humes, 33 of Portland, Ore., explaining how she contracted the virus. "My friend and I stopped at a park area and I must've gotten bitten then... By the seventh day I had a terrible headache, an upset stomach and a temperature of 104." Humes has high hopes she'll be out of a wheelchair one day and back on the ski slopes. She and Williamson, who are in Jackson as volunteers for the West Nile study, say they're glad to have the chance to take part and to undergo a battery of tests. "I actually realized there was quite a bit going on down here from some of the online searches I had come across," Humes said. "It was hard to find anybody to help me," Williamson said of the medical treatment she underwent before making this week's trip to Jackson. Dr. Art Leis, senior scientist for the Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, said his team was the first to recognize in 2002 that West Nile virus attacked the gray matter in the spinal cord and caused a polio myelitis-like syndrome. "We were the first group to describe this manifestation," Leis said. In conjunction with other scientists, he said, "we were the first to obtain pathological confirmation of the polio syndrome from West Nile virus infection. "It was a very large finding. We were in the right place at the right time. We've had people come (for treatment) from coast to coast, which is a tribute to the accomplishments we've made in West Nile virus research and in particular in the team approach we've developed for rehabilitation and improvement of motor function." Leis said because of testing done on study participants, doctors are getting an idea of how much damage can occur from the virus. Doctors can then try to predict to what degree a specific patient will recover function, he said. "My upper body isn't completely back, but definitely much improved. When I first became aware of what I had, I was paralyzed from my neck down," Humes said. Dobrivoje Stokic, director of the Methodist Rehabilitation Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery and principal investigator of the West Nile research, said the one-year study will conclude with findings gleaned from Williamson and Humes. "This was to perform a follow-up evaluation of people who had contracted West Nile in 2002 and early 2003," Stokic said. "This is supposed to be an annual follow-up. We hope to have the results compiled in July." "The objective was twofold. First, it was to find out the extent of recovery of people from obvious muscle weakness from West Nile one year after infection and then find out how it compares to polio myelitis and fatigue. We take a snapshot to look at motor functions at approximately one year. We have medical records to compare it to, but our objective is to see how many people are walking or still have muscle weakness and to what extent after one year." Humes, who plans to return to Oregon on Tuesday, said it wasn't a tough decision to make the trip to Jackson. "I just know how important it is to have research and have the public be educated about whatever it is. Whatever Dr. Stokic, wanted me to do, I was willing to do it," Humes said. "I had a test today that tests your entire body to see which nerves are functioning." "They just told me today that my strength in my legs are normal, but there's something wrong with my nerves in my left leg," Williamson said Monday. "These doctors spent a long time on the phone with me before I came. They are wonderful. I'm doing this because doctors need to be educated along with the public, and these are comprehensive test for me. "These are the first doctors I've found who seem to know how I felt and what I was talking about. It was good that someone knew what I was telling them. I hope they can use me to help others." Williamson said her thoughts are back home with her son as she continues being evaluated at the Jackson hospital. "I won't quit because of him. But, not a day goes by I don't have a problem-solving challenge. "It's amazing what we take for granted."