West Nile virus: an overview of current information

Submitted: 1 March 2019
Accepted: 13 March 2019
Published: 18 June 2019
Abstract Views: 2457
PDF: 772
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

West Nile Virus (WNV) is a vector-borne flavivirus primarily infecting mosquitoes, birds, horses and humans. WNV is responsible for asymptomatic infections or a variety of clinical manifestations ranging from mild febrile illness to neuroinvasive disease. The frequency and severity of WNV-related disease have lately increased in the European Union and in the neighbouring countries, with particular concern for the Mediterranean area. This trend is probably connected to a raise in both average temperatures and rainfall, favourable factors for WNV spread. Due to the marked and expanding geographical distribution of the vector and the high endemic potential of WNV, this virus is worldwide considered an increasing public health apprehension. An augmented burden of WNV severe illness has been reported. Alarmingly, no vaccine or specific antiviral treatments are currently available for WNV infection. Hereafter, we will review the available information summarizing molecular biology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, epidemiology, diagnosis and therapy for WNV infection in humans.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Supporting Agencies

VALEREplus Program

How to Cite

Chianese, A., Stelitano, D., Astorri, R., Serretiello, E., Della Rocca, M. T., Melardo, C., Vitiello, M., Galdiero, M., & Franci, G. (2019). West Nile virus: an overview of current information. Translational Medicine Reports, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/tmr.8145