Norm Mansfield, IL

West Nile is back; 89 in state have it

BY STEPHANIE FOSNIGHT
STAFF WRITER

Three years ago this week, Norm Mansfield was in a coma.

"I thought it was pretty weird that, in all the things I'd lived through in 59 years, a mosquito could do me in," said the 62-year-old Mansfield.

Mansfield was one of the 884 Illinois residents to contract the West Nile virus in 2002, the year Illinois led the nation in human cases. While 2003 and 2004 brought only 54 and 60 cases, respectively, health officials caution this year could be as bad as the 2002 outbreak that killed 67 people.

"At this point, it looks similar, in terms of the number of cases and the weather patterns," said Dr. Craig Conover, an infectious disease specialist with the Illinois Department of Public Health. "It's certainly worrisome."

As of Friday, 89 cases had been reported in Illinois, with 46 in suburban Cook County and 18 in Chicago. There have been 13 in DuPage and seven in Kane counties. Lake, Will and St. Clair counties have had one case each, and there have been two in Peoria County. A 92-year-old suburban Cook County woman died of the disease Aug. 27.

More than half the people stricken are between the ages of 45 and 59.

"Protect yourself, especially at dusk and dawn," said Mansfield.

The virus is most dangerous in people over age 50 and individuals with compromised immune systems. There is no cure.

None of the reported West Nile cases have been in Proviso Township, said Kitty Loewy, spokeswoman for the Cook County Department of Public Health.

"Your guess on that one is as good as mine," Loewy said. "I don't quite understand how the infection picks certain areas and not others."

But that's not to say people here aren't at risk, she added.

"We don't want to water down the message," Loewy said. "We don't want people to get complacent and think it's in those other areas. People travel. People drive places.

"As long as we have warm days left here and a few weeks of summer, the possibility of contracting West Nile is still high, so people have to be careful."

This summer's drought has actually fueled the risk of West Nile.

While the dry weather has eliminated large numbers of the pesky floodwater mosquito, pools of brackish water are the breeding ground of choice for the stealthier house mosquito that carries the virus.

"They prefer to go after putrid water," said entomologist Phil Nixon from the University of Illinois-Extension. "The lousiest, stinkiest, brownest water you can think of is what this mosquito loves to lay its eggs on."

Late August and September are prime times for the Culex pipiens house mosquito, and so far 66 percent of the Culex samples tested in Cook County have been positive for West Nile, said state entomologist Linn Haramif. He and other officials are pleading for the public to use mosquito repellent, especially during morning and evening hours when the bugs are out.

"What we don't want people to do is count mosquitos; we want people to listen to public health officials and use repellent," Haramif said.

While products with DEET have the longest protection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control also recommends alternatives picardin and lemon of eucalyptus.

Norm Mansfield is a big believer in repellent now, but he never dreamed his first mosquito bite of the season would send him to the hospital and leave him with lingering health problems.

"I was sitting on the patio," he said. "I was bit in the neck."

For the next few days, Mansfield was fatigued and began to ache. Four days later, he went to the hospital with double vision. A spinal tap and brain scan confirmed that his brain had swelled with encephalitis, and then he fell into a coma.

"It wasn't my time, but had I died, I wouldn't have known about it," said Mansfield, who didn't revive for four days.

It took him six months to regain his energy, and his short-term memory is still only functioning at about 70 percent, though it's been slowly improving. In addition, the nerves in his left rotator cuff were permanently damaged.

"I can't lift a dinner plate past my waist," Mansfield said.

West Nile symptoms only show up in about two of 10 people infected, and the illness is usually mild, with fever, headache and body aches that go away. But 1 in 150 of those infected will get the severe symptoms, which may include high fever, stiffness, disorientation, coma, convulsions, paralysis, encephalitis and meningitis.

Though state officials have run an aggressive education campaign since the virus appeared in Illinois three years ago, only 40 percent more people are wearing repellent, Haramif said. Many communities have mosquito-abatement programs and agencies have fanned out across the state to help eliminate preventable pools of standing water. But that may not be enough, especially if you're over 50 years of age.

"No mosquito-control program is 100-percent effective," Haramif said.

If you've been bitten and notice a headache that doesn't go away, a stiff neck, confusion or problems walking, Dr. Conover recommends visiting a physician.

"It can be quite a devastating disease," he said. "It can leave you in a wheelchair.

"It can kill you. That's certainly reason to take it seriously."

Stephanie Fosnight can be reached at sfosnight@pioneerlocal.com.