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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Marc Siegel
Aired August 17, 2002 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This hour we begin with the West Nile outbreak story. Health officials in Louisiana and Illinois say the virus has now claimed two more lives. That raises the number of those killed by the mosquito borne disease to 11 nationwide. The disease now everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains and officials expect the virus to spread west.
With more, we're joined by Dr. Marc Siegel from New York University's Medical School.
Dr. Siegel, how are you?
DR. MARC SIEGEL, NYU MEDICAL SCHOOL: Good morning, Miles.
O'BRIEN: How much do we know about the spread of this particular disease right now? I know it's difficult when it's mosquito borne to really get a handle on it, isn't it?
SIEGEL: Yes. Health officials are tracking it in terms of the birds that have been killed and they're also looking at mosquito beds. And they're really identifying the spread and the pattern of spread. But so far, even though it's affected all of these states, it's still only a very small number of cases nationwide.
O'BRIEN: Let's underscore that point, because we were talking about that with Elizabeth Cohen a few moments ago. Statistically this is really something you worry about akin to being struck by lightning, I suppose.
SIEGEL: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: Having said that, you know, we still put lightning rods on our houses. What is the lightning rod analogy that fits here?
SIEGEL: Well, we must in this case use proper prevention. And what proper prevention would be would be that we should not have stagnant water in our back yards. We should watch out for having it on our roofs. We should wear loose clothing, long sleeves. We should use insect repellent more than in other years with, that contain DEET.
But the idea of over reacting and spraying all over really worries me. If we start to do fogging where we send, you know, trucks around sending pesticide out, we can probably do more harm than good.
O'BRIEN: Well, then let's talk about that. How do you strike that balance? You know, how do you know how much is too much and what's prudent and all that stuff? These are difficult decisions.
SIEGEL: We have to look at it rationally. We can't allow ourselves to be led by the fear of this virus or this...
O'BRIEN: Are you concerned that perhaps rationality is at stake here in some sense? People are perhaps -- I don't want to use the "P" word, but they're getting very concerned?
SIEGEL: Yes. I think that because the virus can kill, people are more afraid of it than they would otherwise be. But they, we must remind them that less than one percent of those that even get bitten by one of these mosquitoes would get a serious illness. And of those who get a serious illness, only five or 10 percent would prove to be fatal.
So even if you were to get bitten by one of these mosquitoes, your chances would be quite good.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about somebody who's got some symptoms, like our producer who is not in today, symptoms which would not be completely out of the norm for West Nile. We don't know that she has it, of course. But what should she do? Should she go, get to the first doc in the box she can find?
SIEGEL: Absolutely. Most of the time West Nile is just like any other flu like illness. You would have fever and some muscle aches. There are some characteristic signs of West Nile Virus, a rash on the trunk and lymph node swelling and headaches. But most of the time it's a very, very mild case.
If it turns out to be severe, then giving intravenous fluids and getting the temperature down can prove to be lifesaving.
O'BRIEN: All right, so that's some good advice. I suspect that probably a lot of doctors are getting a lot of calls right now. That's the flip side of it. How do you know when it's just the flu?
SIEGEL: Well, you know, Miles, there's 20,000 deaths per year of the flu and there's only been a few hundred cases of West Nile Virus so far. So I would, again, caution people that this is still a very small outbreak in comparison to what we always deal with, which is the flu.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's kind of reminiscent of the way we cover airplane crashes, for example, when you consider all the deaths on the highways. We tend to focus on these kinds of things. The fact is this is something new, something we don't fully understand. But when you look at the trajectory of this and where it might head and the number of deaths that could be anticipated, there is some pause for concern there, isn't there?
SIEGEL: Yes. But I think even at the worst case, we're talking about several hundred cases. I think that's the worst case for this year, especially since health officials are doing such a good job trying to monitor this and, you know, find out which mosquitoes are affected and to get rid of the mosquitoes before they can really flourish.
O'BRIEN: Now, they're these day biting mosquitoes, the tiger mosquitoes, that are among the big carriers. Very easy to identify, one of the few that bite during the middle of the day. If you see that, should you immediately be alarmed that you've been bitten by one of these?
SIEGEL: No, because among those mosquitoes, there's a very low prevalence of this disease. So I wouldn't be alarmed at all to see those around. In fact, the West Nile Virus tends to be carried by very common mosquitoes, qulex (ph) mosquitoes. But the chances of getting it from one of them is very, very low.
O'BRIEN: All right, so your take away thought for folks on this would be what?
SIEGEL: Be aware, but don't be afraid. I think you can alter your lifestyle in the sense that you can be more cautious and definitely get rid of stagnant water. But, you know, going out in the summer heat protected and wearing insect repellent and not being too exposed is generally a good idea anyway.
O'BRIEN: All right, Dr. Marc Siegel.
And I would add don't bother with one of those mosquito machines. It did nothing for me.
All right, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate you joining us from New York.
SIEGEL: Thank you, Miles.
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