Word: nile
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...summer scare last year was shark attacks. This year it's West Nile virus--a threat that is in some ways more frightening because you don't have to go near the water to get hurt. Death this summer is being spread by mosquitoes hatched in our backyard. The infestation, first reported in the U.S. in New York City in 1999, has reached nearly every state east of the Rockies. Seven people, all in Louisiana, have died so far this year, and health officials believe that an eighth man, who died in Mississippi last week, was infected. Neighbors have practically...
Before you decide never to go out again at dawn or dusk, though, it pays to put the latest bulletins about West Nile into perspective. Yes, the West Nile virus has been found in birds and mosquitoes in more than 35 states. Yes, it seems likely to reach the West Coast by the end of the year. And yes, it seems to be striking younger people than it did three years ago; for reasons that are still unclear, the youngest fatality this year was 53, as opposed to 68 in 1999. But the chances of getting infected are still pretty...
...predicts that West Nile will continue its flight westward and eventually spread to every state, except maybe Hawaii and Alaska. Since there is no vaccine or treatment, the best protection is to stay indoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active, and douse exposed skin with insect repellent...
...acres of woodland in Willow River, Minn., Camp Heartland was started in 1993 by Neil Willenson, then 31, after he saw how Nile Sandeen, then 5, born HIV-positive, was mistreated. "Parents wanted him to have his own isolated seat on the school bus, and even his own bathroom at school," recalls Willenson. He made it his mission to create a summer camp that would offer the Nile Sandeens of the world a week of "normal childhood" during which they could experience fun like ordinary kids before they died. "I predicted I'd lose them all, one by one," says...
...never expected Nile or Guadelupe or Jessica or any other campers from those years to defy their early odds and still be around today, healthy enough to work as camp counselors. Of 1,500 campers since 1993, just 48 have died. Medical advances that began with protease inhibitors in 1996 and now include an array of aggressive treatments have lengthened the lives of HIV-positive kids, though the long-term effects remain unknown...