Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

West Nile Worries

Aired June 04, 2003 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the West Nile Virus right now and your health. School is out for most kids and so are the mosquitoes. And that means West Nile worries are back.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here to help.

So, how much should we worry about this?

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, don't worry. Don't panic. But make sure you have the right kind of protection. And remember that you may not realize if you do, are infected with West Nile because only one in five people who are infected have symptoms and those symptoms include things like fever, headache, body aches, rash, swollen lymph glands. So those are things to be concerned about.

COSTELLO: So are kids more vulnerable than adults?

FRYHOFER: Well, mosquitoes like you whether you're young or you're old and the mosquitoes, if you're out there, you can actually get bit. So they're going to bite anyone who's out there. Their favorite biting times are around dawn and dusk.

COSTELLO: But you can get West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite and not even know you have it and then others will get bitten by an infected mosquito and they'll become really sick.

Why is that?

FRYHOFER: Right. Well, one in a 150 people who get West Nile get very sick. The get the severe symptoms, the encephalitis, the meningitis, which is inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and you're more prone to get those severe illnesses if you're over the age of 50.

COSTELLO: Oh, but not necessarily if you're a kid?

FRYHOFER: Well, if you're a kid and you are outside at dawn and dusk when those mosquitoes bite, you know, they might get you.

COSTELLO: Yes. OK, let's talk about protection now, because I see you have a variety of protective agents here for us this morning.

FRYHOFER: Yes. Yes. Well, you've got to remember, you've got to get rid of all the stagnant water around your house, wear long pants and long sleeves when you go outside, even when, though it's maybe a little hotter, especially around dawn and dusk. And we've got the mosquito products here. DEET is the name of the game. If you don't have DEET, you're not going to get the protection. DEET, you want to use something that's up to 50 percent. The higher the percentage, the longer the protection, up to 50 percent. For example, if you have a product that's 20 percent DEET, it's going to last about five hours. Something that's about 20 percent DEET, that's like 10 percent DEET may last only two hours.

Now, one of the new products that's out on the market this year is a combination sunscreen insect repellent. And according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, don't do it. There are concerns that, you know, that if you go swimming or whatever, you have to reapply the sunscreen and that the DEET is not water soluble so you don't want to reapply that. And kids this year, according to the pediatric groups, can use up to a 30 percent DEET product.

COSTELLO: So you can't spray yourself and then apply suntan lotion either? That's a big no-no, because it -- does it negate the effects of the mosquito repellent?

FRYHOFER: Well, what they say is don't use the combination products. Use them separately but don't combine -- don't use a product that's combined.

COSTELLO: OK. This is bad. We'll put it down.

FRYHOFER: OK.

COSTELLO: Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 4, 2003 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the West Nile Virus right now and your health. School is out for most kids and so are the mosquitoes. And that means West Nile worries are back.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here to help.

So, how much should we worry about this?

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, don't worry. Don't panic. But make sure you have the right kind of protection. And remember that you may not realize if you do, are infected with West Nile because only one in five people who are infected have symptoms and those symptoms include things like fever, headache, body aches, rash, swollen lymph glands. So those are things to be concerned about.

COSTELLO: So are kids more vulnerable than adults?

FRYHOFER: Well, mosquitoes like you whether you're young or you're old and the mosquitoes, if you're out there, you can actually get bit. So they're going to bite anyone who's out there. Their favorite biting times are around dawn and dusk.

COSTELLO: But you can get West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite and not even know you have it and then others will get bitten by an infected mosquito and they'll become really sick.

Why is that?

FRYHOFER: Right. Well, one in a 150 people who get West Nile get very sick. The get the severe symptoms, the encephalitis, the meningitis, which is inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and you're more prone to get those severe illnesses if you're over the age of 50.

COSTELLO: Oh, but not necessarily if you're a kid?

FRYHOFER: Well, if you're a kid and you are outside at dawn and dusk when those mosquitoes bite, you know, they might get you.

COSTELLO: Yes. OK, let's talk about protection now, because I see you have a variety of protective agents here for us this morning.

FRYHOFER: Yes. Yes. Well, you've got to remember, you've got to get rid of all the stagnant water around your house, wear long pants and long sleeves when you go outside, even when, though it's maybe a little hotter, especially around dawn and dusk. And we've got the mosquito products here. DEET is the name of the game. If you don't have DEET, you're not going to get the protection. DEET, you want to use something that's up to 50 percent. The higher the percentage, the longer the protection, up to 50 percent. For example, if you have a product that's 20 percent DEET, it's going to last about five hours. Something that's about 20 percent DEET, that's like 10 percent DEET may last only two hours.

Now, one of the new products that's out on the market this year is a combination sunscreen insect repellent. And according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, don't do it. There are concerns that, you know, that if you go swimming or whatever, you have to reapply the sunscreen and that the DEET is not water soluble so you don't want to reapply that. And kids this year, according to the pediatric groups, can use up to a 30 percent DEET product.

COSTELLO: So you can't spray yourself and then apply suntan lotion either? That's a big no-no, because it -- does it negate the effects of the mosquito repellent?

FRYHOFER: Well, what they say is don't use the combination products. Use them separately but don't combine -- don't use a product that's combined.

COSTELLO: OK. This is bad. We'll put it down.

FRYHOFER: OK.

COSTELLO: Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com