The West Nile virus is spreading, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… researchers say that over time… our bodies might become immune to the virus:
Transcript
The West Nile virus is spreading. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports, over time our bodies might become immune to the virus:
You may have seen images in the news of the first victims of WNV – dead crows. Or perhaps you’ve seen images of trucks driving through neighborhoods spraying insecticide. The problem is a potentially fatal virus that’s spread by mosquitoes. But officials say the chances of contracting serious illness from the mosquito is extremely low.
Dr. Michael Gochfeld is with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He says that West Nile virus is here to stay, but that our body’s defenses will likely be our best ally:
“There are parts of Egypt, for example, where 100% of the people have protective antibodies against West Nile, so I think we’re going to see sort of a natural immunity building up in the population, and it may build up pretty quickly.”
Gochfeld says that in the meantime health departments should focus their efforts on educating the public about precautions to take. Things like wearing long sleeves, using insect repellant, and eliminating small pockets of standing water where mosquitoes breed. For the GLRC, I’m Mark Brush.