Westward Spread of the West Nile Virus
Buzzing around the bush
Sometimes, I hate being right.
It was nearly 2 years ago when I first wrote about the
westward spread of the West Nile virus in this country after
its initial 1999 New York outbreak – and about how our green-
leaning government refuses to employ the simplest, safest,
cheapest and most effective weapon against it (and against
all mosquito-borne illnesses, for that matter), DDT.
Since then, cases of the West Nile virus in humans have
sprung up in all but 3 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states, and
there’s no end in sight. How big is the problem now? FAR
BIGGER than our U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention habitually estimates. And how do we know this?
Because of the startling number of blood donors who’ve
tested positive for the deadly virus. According to a recent
Reuters online article, the more than 1,000 donors who’ve so
far tested positive for West Nile make the virus one of the
most likely diseases in the U.S. to be transmitted via a
blood transfusion – a rate of prevalence one CDC expert
characterized in the article as “shocking.”
Yes, it’s shocking. But to those of us with half a brain and
the ability to extrapolate logically (our elected officials
obviously don’t fall into this group), it’s not at all
SURPRISING. Why? Because we haven’t done nearly enough to
stop the spread of this killer. While we’ve been wasting
time and money attempting to develop genetically engineered
mosquitoes that supposedly can’t carry disease (honest-read
my Daily Dose from 1/23), perfectly safe, environmentally
sound, economical DDT rides the bench.
And for what? Routine politics. Those who hold office in
this country are more than willing to lament the spread of
West Nile when it means more money for clean-up, research
and treatment being funneled into their home districts – but
who among them will stand up to the public’s misconceptions
and scream the obvious: That we need to aggressively deploy
DDT and other pesticides to eradicate as many mosquitoes as
possible RIGHT NOW! (Maybe after the virus hits THEIR home
districts )
But that would mean actually SOLVING a public health crisis
for good – and possibly ending the gravy train of dollars
our politicians are more than happy to trade a few of our
lives for.
Meanwhile, the weather warms, and this year’s mosquitoes
hatch anew
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Dracula would be in a panic if he heard this news
According to a recent Associated Press article, a viable
BLOOD SUBSTITUTE is currently in use (or pending) for trauma
patients in 20 hospitals around the country.
Long considered to be the Holy Grail of the emergency
medical world, an all-types-compatible substitute for human
blood is now, apparently, a reality – sort of. Launched in
the Denver, Colorado area in January, this ersatz blood
(called PolyHeme) is being automatically administered only
in cases of severe, life-threatening injury or trauma -
emergency cases where informed consent is usually not an
option.
Patient advocates may say this crosses the line of proper
medical ethics, but there may not be much of a downside to
employing this particular experimental measure in life-and-
death situations. Because of spoilage (blood products don’t
stay fresh for long), space constraints, and the time issues
inherent to blood typing, emergency medical crews
desperately need a universally applicable substitute in
order to save lives. By all initial indications, PolyHeme
seems to be the closest thing yet to such a solution.
In stark contrast to a 1998 research trial using a different
type of blood substitute that was linked to the deaths of 20
emergency ward patients, results for PolyHeme seem
encouraging so far. According to its maker, it safely blends
with all blood types and dissipates in the body within 24
hours. One drawback of this blood substitute is that it
can’t carry tissue-nourishing oxygen the way real blood can -
so recipients could risk organ or brain damage if they do in
fact survive, depending on how much of the stuff they
require to be stabilized.
Needless to say, much more research and testing is necessary
before PolyHeme or other blood substitute will achieve
widespread acceptance within the medical community. At this
time, I’m hesitant to characterize it as anything other than
a possible breakthrough in the early stages of development.
In my view, the jury’s still out on whether it is indeed the
Holy Grail of emergency medicine, or simply a stepping stone
toward it.
But hey, at least it won’t give you West Nile virus, right?
Giving you yet another transfusion of truth,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
