Why would anyone go to the hospital and report west nile? There is no treatments no cures and they can force?

Question

you to do repeat spinal taps, I had it and it turned to the worst strain THANK GOD my doctor was honest and told me what would happen if he reported it so it went in the chart as whip lash. Since is not transmittable to other people and there no benefit only missery in going why would people go?

Answer 1

Your attitude is selfish, but I am sure it's only because you do not understand why it is important to report West Nile Virus.

Why would someone report West Nile? From a doctor's perspective, it's a legal obligation. Mostp laces in the US have laws that *require* health care providers to report incidneces of WNV to the local health department. Falsifying your chart was an illegal action on your doctor's part and unethical from a professional standpoint.

We need to know whether there is West Nile in our region because it can affect the blood supply. While West Nile doesn't spread person to person, there can be potentially lethal outbreaks if the virus contaminates our donor blood supply.  If it did get into the blood suppply, it would be detrimental to recipients with immune system problems (like cancer patients!).

About one-third of the West Nile cases we find are from BLOOD DONORS who have no symptoms. Yes, there IS a blood test, and blood banks use it to make sure West Nile doesn't get into our blood supply.

The spinal taps are for people with West Nile encephalitis, which is what you had. They test the cerebrospinal fluid because they need to know whether the virus is in your nervous system.

Because there is no cure or vaccine for WNV, it is important to report incidences of disease to that public health authorities can take better measures to effectively halt its spread.

So while you were miserable and all (yes, encephalitis and meningitis suck, and I'm sorry you have to go through all that), the procedures that are in place are there to help OTHER people not wind up in the same situation. That's why doctors and public health do the things they do.

Answer 2

one doesn't have a diagnosis of West Nile Virus without a blood test, full medical exam, and history. there are often accompanying symptoms that can be treated. this is why people go to the doctor.

Answer 3

Most people that get West Nile don't even know it, they may only have headache, fever, skin rash, vomiting, swollen lymph glands...you know, flu symptoms.

West Nile CAN be transmitted from human to human through blood transfusions, organ transplants, pregnancy, and breastfeeding.  You can't get it from an infected person by touching or kissing

And YOU are the one that is wrong...there was a blood test approved by the FDA  in July of 2003 that can detect West Nile