State health officials are bracing for an increase in West Nile infections from last year as Colorado heads into the worst of the mosquito season.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported five new confirmed cases Thursday for a total of 37 this year, compared with 23 at this time last year.
There have been no deaths this year.
There were 106 confirmed cases and two deaths in all of 2005.
“August and September are the peak months. We’re right at the point where people are getting infected right now,” said state health department epidemiologist John Pape.
State health officials expect more infections than last year but nowhere near the 2003 record, Pape said.
In 2003, Colorado had 2,947 confirmed cases with 63 deaths.
Thursday’s newly reported cases were in Boulder, Delta, Montrose, Phillips and Prowers counties, with onset dates ranging from July 25 to Aug. 6.
Symptoms include fever, muscle aches and marked fatigue. The most serious cases result in inflammation of the spinal cord – meningitis – or of the brain – encephalitis.
There is no medicine to treat West Nile virus, but medical care is critical to recovery, said Adrienne LeBailly, director of the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.
Larimer County has reported four cases, including a 52-year-old Larimer County woman diagnosed with meningitis, LeBailly said.
The woman is recovering at home after spending a week at Poudre Valley Hospital. Her symptoms appeared July 29 after being bitten by a mosquito about nine days earlier.
“Not only is this a reminder that West Nile virus is still very much with us but also of its serious consequences,” LeBailly said.
Symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis include high fever, neck and eye pain, headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light, tremors, difficulty walking or slurred speech.
About 4.4 percent of the mosquitoes tested have been found to carry the virus, Pape said.
“If you’re getting bit by mosquitoes, you really need to get behind a screen, get indoors or put on some repellant,” Pape said. “It only takes one. ”
Fourteen counties have reported confirmed cases of West Nile, including 10 cases in Mesa County, according to the state health department.
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com.
