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Ideas for quick and easy West Nile virus education

Nurse Leader Weekly, June 11, 2004

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This year's first human cases of West Nile virus were reported in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on June 10.

As nice weather moves across the country, patients presenting with the symptoms associated with this mosquito-born illness will increase over the next few months.

As of June 8 of this year, two U.S. states had reported a total of seven human cases to the CDC through its ArboNET tracking system. Six cases were reported from Arizona and one from New Mexico. The CDC also said that
* four (57%) of the cases occurred in males
* two cases were the milder form of the virus (West Nile fever) and three were the more serious West Nile meningitis or encephalitis
* the median age of patients was 53 years (range: 22-69 years)
* no deaths have been reported

In 2003 there were 9,862 total human cases reported in the U.S. and 264 deaths, according to CDC data.

West Nile virus is generally spread through the bites from infected mosquitoes, which acquire the virus when they feed on infected birds. In a small number of cases, the virus has spread through blood transfusions, organ transplants, breastfeeding, and even during pregnancy from mother to baby. The virus cannot be transmitted person-to-person through casual contact such as touching or kissing, according to the CDC.

Educating staff about West Nile and other infectious diseases is challenging because of the need to constantly disseminate new information. Some creative ways include the following:

* In-house newsletters to alert employees of emerging infectious diseases and the appropriate infection control precautions to take
* Posters
* Pocket cards or quick reference guides
* Infection control updates on the facility's intranet
* Email alerts
* Attachments to employee paychecks

Adapted from Briefings on Infection Control (September 2003), published by HCPro, Inc.

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