| Continued from Page
2
As spokesperson for the interferon study, Wehbeh Wehbeh, MD, hopes the outcome will reduce or eradicate the neuroinvasive effects of WNV. The drug has proved effective against St. Louis encephalitis, a virus similar to West Nile.
“We are just starting this double-blind study,” Wehbeh said. During the last two summers, results from a small randomized study using another form of interferon for only three weeks were encouraging enough for the FDA to approve Rahal’s current study. “We have to treat patients at an early stage, within the first four days of admission, because if the damage is done, it is irreversible,” Wehbeh said.
Trials for treatment
Although no specific medical treatment for WNV exists to date and the only effective vaccine against it is for horses, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health, hopes that an expansion of its clinical trial may lead to an effective treatment and eventually prevent this disease. The multicenter trial opened at 36 sites in September and is expected to expand to about 60 sites, pending internal approval at the selected sites, this summer.
“Study coordinators are mostly nurses or junior physicians,” Walla Dempsey, PhD, clinical trials project officer, said. Dempsey said the studies as “labor-intensive” and most work occurs at the bedside. The project enrolled its first patient in California for an encephalitis trial.
“The trials are designed not only to provide treatment, but to characterize the clinical course of West Nile virus infection, so we can design better trials in the future,” Dempsey said. “We don’t know enough about how the disease progresses and why many people get well on their own or why many do not.
We need better prognostics and pointers to be able to evaluate this disease.
“Early diagnosis is important. West Nile victims present similar to other neurological cases. It is important to keep West Nile virus in your thought process especially at this time of the year.”
2004 West Nile
virus activity in the U.S.
(as of Aug. 3)
State |
Neuroinvasive |
Fever |
Other |
Total |
Deaths |
| Alabama |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Arizona |
99 |
26 |
122 |
247 |
2 |
| Arkansas |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| California |
28 |
31 |
10 |
69 |
2 |
| Colorado |
9 |
35 |
0 |
44 |
0 |
| Florida |
4 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
| Illinois |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Iowa |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
| Michigan |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Missouri |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Nebraska |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Nevada |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| New Mexico |
1 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
| New York |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| North Dakota |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Ohio |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Pennsylvania |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| South Dakota |
1 |
8 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
| Texas |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
| Wyoming |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Source: CDC
Counting Crows
To report a dead bird | Call the
Department of Health Services at (877) WNV-BIRD (968-2473). For more details, visit www.westnile.ca.gov. |
To comment on this story, send e-mail to editorca@nurseweek.com.
Webworthy
www.cdc.gov
www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/137/3/173
West Nile Virus: A Primer for the Clinician
www.nyhq.org/posting/rahal.html
Double-Blinded, Placebo Controlled Trial
of Alpha-Interferon (Alferon) Therapy for West Nile Meningoencephalitis
www.hs.state.az.us/news/2004
www.dhs.ca.gov
www.casg.uab.edu/adult/act%2021SNV.htm
www.clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00068055
www.nctime.com/articles/2004/08/02/news/state
|
Reply to Article