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‘Lives turned upside down because of a mosquito:’ West Nile virus hits two families hard
WSB-TV • • health
Key Points:
- Sarah Wunderlick's mother, Patti McCoy, a 62-year-old kidney transplant recipient with a weakened immune system, contracted West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite and has been hospitalized for over two weeks with severe neurological symptoms.
- West Nile Virus affects fewer than 1% of those infected by attacking the central nervous system, causing symptoms like difficulty speaking and requiring intensive care and ventilator support; there is no cure, and recovery can take months.
- Another family in Cherokee County reported a 76-year-old man severely impacted by the virus, highlighting the risk to elderly and immunocompromised individuals and the importance of mosquito bite prevention.
- Health officials stated that mosquito testing and spraying are limited due to resource constraints, but surveillance efforts focus on identifying mosquito species to guide population control strategies.
- The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed one West Nile Virus death this year and warned that mosquito activity, and thus infection risk, continues through October.
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