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West Nile virus didn't kill woman last month

But Pinellas County health officials can't say what caused the death of the 85-year-old woman because of confidentiality laws.

By LISA GREENE
Published September 8, 2005

The elderly woman who died last month after contracting West Nile virus did not die from the disease, health officials said Wednesday.

However, because of medical confidentiality laws, health officials can't say what killed the 85-year-old woman, said Julia Gill, epidemiology program manager at the Pinellas County Health Department.

Health officials had been waiting to get a death certificate listing the woman's cause of death.

Pinellas has been the center of a West Nile outbreak this year in Florida, with 12 people reportedly ill with the mosquito-borne disease, most in the Largo and Seminole area.

One man, Jim Becker, became so ill that family members feared he would die. He is recovering in a Largo rehabilitation facility. When he arrived, he couldn't walk or lift his arms.

There likely are other people in Pinellas who have had the virus, but their cases have been mild enough that they don't know it. People's reactions to the disease vary widely. Research involving blood tests has shown that most people infected never show symptoms and have no way of knowing they were infected.

But some people get flulike illness, and about one in 150 people become severely ill, with tremors, paralysis or coma. Among those, about 3 to 15 percent die.

Pinellas and Hillsborough both are under medical alert. In Hillsborough, sentinel chickens tested positive last week for the virus.

To prevent mosquito bites, people should stay inside at dusk and dawn, wear long sleeves and long pants, and use repellent that contains DEET, Picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. They also should remove standing water around their homes.

[Last modified September 8, 2005, 01:48:07]