A Texas cancer survivor is learning to walk again after contracting a crippling mosquito-borne virus.
Prospero Rangel, 78, was outside his home in Brazos County when he was bitten and immediately started feeling “so itchy.”
Over the next few days, he suffered from body aches, joint pain, weakness and fever before being admitted to hospital a week later.
He was diagnosed with West Nile virus, which is becoming increasingly common in the U.S. due to the warming climate.
However, Rangel is among the 1% of patients who develop a severe form of the virus, in which part of the nervous system swells.
Prospero Rangel, pictured with his daughter Sara Salzer, was outside his Brazos County home when he suffered two mosquito bites. He continued with contracting
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The long-term effects of a severe West Nile infection can include memory loss, hearing loss, muscle weakness and paralysis.
Rangel’s daughter, Sara Salzer, told the local news station KBTX: ‘We’re told there will be some symptoms that will stay with him for a while.
“We were even told that he may need to undergo outpatient therapy for the next year.”
The grandfather is the second human case of West Nile virus in the Brazos County area in 2024.
The first case was reported in mid-September, but no details were given about the severity of the person’s infection.
According to tHe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 62 human cases of West Nile virus have been reported so far this year.
This compares with the 1,868 human cases of West Nile disease – including 89 deaths – during a severe outbreak in 2012, showing that efforts to contain the virus have paid off.
It usually takes between three and fourteen days for the disease to develop.
About 80% of infected people are asymptomatic (no symptoms), but about 20% develop a fever.
And each year in the U.S., about 1,000 people are hospitalized with the most severe form of the disease, which, if it spreads to the brain and nervous system, can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death, with a fatality rate of three to fifteen percent.
West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the continental US
People over 60 are at greater risk of serious illness if infected, as are people with certain medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease.
So far this year, there have been 748 human cases of West Nile virus in the US, including 515 severe or ‘neuroinvasive’ cases
There is no specific treatment for the virus or vaccine, but 80 percent of cases are mild and patients may develop flu-like symptoms or a rash.
The CDC states that the best way to prevent West Nile is to protect yourself from mosquito bites.
Bite prevention tips include using insect repellents, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and using mosquito repellent devices outdoors and around the home.
In Brazos County, property owners are encouraged to remove standing water while ensuring that lawn irrigation and on-site drainage are properly maintained.
Larvicide can also be used to treat areas where mosquitoes can lay eggs.