A recent study indicates that people with severe West Nile Virus symptoms, which can include vision problems, may develop lesions and scarring in the retina. From 2002 through 2005, researchers at Southern California Desert Retina Consultants in Palm Springs, California studied West Nile Virus cases involving seven people who developed vision problems.
Multifocal chorioretinitis was the most common condition found among the patients, and may be a marker of the worst forms of West Nile. Other vision problems associated with West Nile are optic nerve damage and inflammation causing reduced blood flow. They also found that diabetics were more likely to develop serious eye problems from West Nile.
The US Center for Disease Control say that 1 out of every 150 cases is severe and that about 3,000 people were diagnosed with West Nile in 2005.
Dale L. Edwards
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