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Fourth West Nile death in DuPage
Updated: November 5, 2012 6:44AM
WHEATON — Two days in a row this week, the DuPage County Health Department announced that a county resident has died from the West Nile virus. The overall tally for DuPage climbed Thursday to 31 human cases, four of which have ended in fatalities.
Because of privacy laws, public health agencies release few details about the illnesses. However, the Wheaton department reports that the cases in DuPage have involved residents of Naperville in addition to Addison, Bensenville, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Glyn Ellyn, Hinsdale, Lisle, Lombard, Villa Park and Westmont.
Only one other Illinois county has reported a death from the mosquito-borne illness this year. A 64-year-old Elgin man passed away from complications of the virus in mid-August.
“There is no definitive explanation for the number of DuPage County deaths in relation to the statewide total, but it may be greater access to care and increased awareness among patients and clinicians,” Health Department spokesman David Hass wrote in an email.
Statewide, the case total stood at 138 on Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its weekly surveillance data Tuesday, reporting the nationwide total at 3,545 cases, including 147 deaths.
General information about the age, gender and county location of West Nile infections in Illinois can be found at www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/wnvsurveillance_humancases_12.htm.
The CDC’s weekly updates, broken down by state, can be found at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount12_detailed.htm.
