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Saturday, June 29, 2002
Larrazabal kids did not have West Nile Fever: CDC report
By Linette C. Ramos
NONE of the seven Larrazabal children of Ormoc City, who were hospitalized last April, were afflicted with West Nile Fever.
No less than experts from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States confirmed this, almost three months after the children fell ill.
One of them, 10-year-old Marcos Larrazabal, remains comatose in the intensive care unit of Cebu Doctor’s Hospital.
The other children, Mar-cos’ sisters and cousins, were declared out of danger days after they started having high fever last April 7.
Ruled out
Dr. Junjie Zuasula, chief of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health (DOH) 7, said that thorough laboratory tests at the CDC ruled out West Nile Virus as a possible cause of the illness.
“So they ruled out West Nile in the investigation and concluded that definitely, it was not West Nile Fever,” Zuasula told Sun.Star.
CDC revealed the result of the tests last week, although they have yet to furnish DOH a copy of their formal report.
Further studies and tests will be conducted on the specimens to find out what other possible virus caused the disease. The studies and tests will take months to be completed.
There is yet no specific virus the CDC doctors are looking for, although viruses more common than West Nile and encephalitis will be checked.
Adenoviruses
“They are looking at the possibility that adenoviruses, which are much simpler and more common than West Nile, may have caused the disease, but it may take several months before the results can be available,” Zuasula said.
He said it is possible that a less deadly and a more common virus could have rendered Marcos comatose and six other children ill.
Zuasula explained that Marcos’ immune system could be weaker compared to his sisters’ and cousins’, resulting to his present condition.
“It’s a case-to-case basis. Even if it’s just a simple virus that causes cough or flu, in the end it will depend on the defense system of the host,” he said. |
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