Eighth West Nile fatality in North Macedonia — 70-year-old man dies
A 70-year-old patient who was admitted to the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Skopje on 25 August died after a ten-day intensive-care stay, clinic director Fadil Cana said.
An eighth fatality linked to West Nile virus has been recorded in North Macedonia: a 70-year-old man who had been admitted to the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Skopje on 25 August in a critically severe condition, clinic director Fadil Cana said at a press briefing.
Eight patients with neuroinvasive disease currently hospitalized
According to the clinic, eight patients with confirmed neuroinvasive West Nile disease are currently hospitalized in Skopje. Two of those patients are in a serious condition and remain in the intensive care unit; they are intubated and on mechanical ventilation.
Describing the course of the recently deceased patient, Cana said: "Unfortunately, over the weekend a fatal outcome was recorded for a 70-year-old patient, the eighth in order, who had been admitted to the clinic on 25 August in an extremely severe general condition. Immediately after admission he was placed in the intensive care unit, intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation. During this entire ten-day stay the patient was in an extremely severe general condition and despite all treatment and the full effort of the intensive care unit, over the weekend he ended with a fatal outcome."
The director added that, apart from one newly admitted patient from Sveti Nikole, all other hospitalized cases are residents of Skopje and are aged over 60. He also noted that there have been no new confirmed admissions with West Nile virus to the Clinic for Infectious Diseases for four days.
Clinic officials emphasized that the patients treated at the hospital were infected within the country.
Photo: МИА
