Infectious Diseases Clinic: only one hospitalized with West Nile fever in the last week

The Infectious Diseases Clinic in Skopje reports that the number of patients with West Nile fever is falling: in the past week there was only one newly hospitalized suspect case, clinic director Fadil Cana told reporters.

Current hospital picture

“Seven patients are hospitalized at the Clinic. Over the past week, or even about ten days, we have only one suspect hospitalized patient, while the others are the same six confirmed patients. Of them, two are more seriously ill and are still on respiratory support in the Intensive Care Unit. The others are stable and are in the Department for Neuroinfections,” Cana said.

He noted that two patients remain in critical condition on ventilatory support, while the remainder are receiving care in the neuroinfections ward and are reported as stable.

Cana said he expects case numbers to drop as temperatures fall. “We expect that as temperatures fall, this epidemic will end as well, because according to global statistics, epidemics follow this pattern; in the late summer months, that is in September, a decline is expected,” he said.

He added that public-health measures and local campaigns in the municipalities affected by the outbreak have produced visible results. “But we must also say that after the measures taken by health and local authorities, especially in the municipalities affected by the epidemic, results are visible and we have a reduced number of infected,” Cana said.

There is no specific treatment for West Nile fever, and recovery can take months, the director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic warned.

Photo: Printskrin