It's peak West Nile disease season

SANDUSKY — Late August and early September are the peak times for getting West Nile disease, so it's a good time to try to avoid getting bitten by the mosquitoes that spread the sometimes-serious disease. Those at the Ohio's state health department said there have been seven confirmed West Nile cases in Ohio, most of them in northern Ohio. Erie County also has had a likely case, although it was not confirmed by the state health department. The CDC states that while many cases of West Nile are mild — many people don't have symptoms and thus don't even know they were infected — more than 1,200 people get severe illnesses each year, and more than 120 people die. Local infection 'more likely than not' An Erie County man who said he had the disease became severely ill. "I was down for the count," said Walt Kapiskosky, owner of Walt's Auto Repair in Sandusky. Kapiskosky said his illness began with burning eyes and then severe exhaustion. He wound up in a hospital's intensive care unit for two weeks and lost 32 pounds. He has now recovered. Kapiskosky said he was diagnosed with West Nile on July 21. He said he was surprised there had not been local publicity about his case. Federal medical privacy regulations prevent doctors from discussing individual patients unless the doctor has written permission. After Kapiskosky gave a signed permission statement to his doctor, Dr. Richard Keller, Keller spoke to the Register. Keller said that "it is more likely than not" that Kapiskosky had West Nile, both in Keller's opinion and the opinion of specialists. Sometimes a diagnosis is ironclad, and sometimes it is a matter of probability, Keller said. "That's the way medicine is a lot," he said. How West Nile is tested The state health department uses two tests to confirm West Nile cases, one that shows an active disease and one that shows antibodies. Keller said he doesn't know the details of the state health department's ruling. "I don't know how deep they dug into the case," Keller said. Keller is a member of the Erie County Health Department board. He emphasized that the decision whether to confirm his patient's case as West Nile was made by the state, not the local health department. The state health department noted how there have been three West Nile cases in Franklin County and one case apiece in Fulton, Hancock, Medina and Cuyahoga counties. Infected mosquitoes have been found in 42 counties in much of Ohio. How to avoid infection Describing severe cases of West Nile, the CDC states, "Some people develop severe illness, which can affect the central nervous system or illness that result in hospitalization or death. Symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness or paralysis." West Nile is found in every state except Hawaii and Alaska, and there's no vaccine for it, so the only way to avoid it is to try to avoid mosquito bites. Taylor Kula, the Erie County Health Department's epidemiologist, says people going outside should apply insect repellent, especially at night. Mosquitoes are particularly active at dawn and dusk, she said. "I do try to protect myself," said Kula, who said she wears long sleeves and an EPA-approved insect repellent.