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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday N ovem ber 12, 2003 - A 7 Results of West Nile virus study concern MD By JASON MISNER SPECIAL T O T'HH BEAVER The risk o f getting serious ly ill after contracting West Nile virus is higher than was first thought and has propelled M eM aster University researchers to find out why. An abbreviated version o f long-awaited results from a spring blood study, document ing the prevalence o f the m os quito-borne West Nile virus in O akville residents. was released Friday. It showed that one out o f 84 eases o f West Nile can result in serious ill ness like encephalitis or meningitis, sometimes requir ing hospitalization. "T he prevalence rate is well within the range o f nor mal and that's w hat we expected." said Dr. Susan Elliott, the dean o f social sci ences at VlcMaster who was one o f three researchers con tracted by the Province to do the $250,000 study. "But the possibility of getting seriously ill is higher than previously thought. That deserves further investigation." Previous studies in the United States indicated that one person out o f every 150 West Nile cases became seri ously ill. It's the first detailed study o f its kind in Canada and gives health officials and m edical researchers som e insight into the virus and its impact. M eM aster will conduct a studv looking at serious West Nile cases in O ntario and Saskatchew an, w hich was Canada's provincial West Nile hot spot this year. Elliott said. "We are doing our own follow up." she said, noting it would include an evaluation of phys ical and mental health. Elliott hopes to have the results compiled and ready for public release early next sum mer. when the West Nile sea son typically starts. The point o f the blood study was to find how many residents in two postal code areas in Oakville contracted West Nile. They were chosen because they had the highest rate o f infection in North America last year. O f the 1,505 residents who provided a blixxl sample. 46 tested positive, or 3 .1 per cent, for virus antibodies. It pro duced a ratio suggesting that between 670 and 1.219 o f the 30.467 residents living in the sample areas were infected. In that area, there were six cases o f encephalitis (all hos pitalized) and five cases of meningitis (one hospitalized). Eight people also had West Nile fever (one hospitalized). Generally, the Oakville number o f 3.1 per cent was com parable to the num ber infected in New York at 2.6 per cent. The Oakville study found most, or 65 per cent, of those testing positive for the anti bodies were over 50 years of age. The study also looked at behavioural patterns mainly to see what people did to protect them selves against getting West Nile. Two-thirds surveyed had containers with w ater -- known m osquito breeding sites -- on their properties; a quarter had door and window screen tears: nearly two-thirds rarely or never wore insect repellent outdoors for 30 min utes or longer: half rarely or never w ore long-sleeved shirts and pants. More than half did nothing to prevent themselves from being bitten. Elliott said she was aston ished to see the lack of protec tion from the public against West Nile. "This is just star tling to me." she said. Dr. Bob Nosal. Halton's Medical Officer o f Health, said the report takes into account data from last year not this year, but concludes that residents need to take pre cautions against West Nile. The entire blood study is to be released to the Province later this week. WONDERFUL W interSofa Super Products, Prices and Super Savings! Long lasting and hardworking, The Boss stands for quaity and value. 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