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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

In Vitro Analysis of Myd88-mediated Cellular Immune Response to West Nile Virus Mutant Strain Infection
Published on: November 27, 2014
Outcome of West Nile fever in older adults
Yitshal N Berner1, Ruth Lang, Michal Y Chowers
1Department of Geriatric Medicine, Sapir Medical Center-Meir Hospital, Affiliated with Tel Aviv University, Sackler Medical School, Kfar-Saba, Israel. ynberner@clalit.org.il
Objectives:
To determine the effect of clinical presentation and cognitive changes on the postdischarge outcome in older adult patients with West Nile fever (WNF).
Design:
Retrospective, cohort analysis.
Setting:
Meir Hospital located in the center of Israel in the Sharon region.
Participants:
Thirty-two patients aged 65 and older hospitalized during a WNF outbreak.
Measurements:
All patients' charts were analyzed retrospectively with special emphasis on their cognitive and functional state. A follow-up examination of patients with functional decline at discharge was performed after 3 months.
Results:
A change in consciousness, rather than in cognition, predicted the outcome. The death rate was 22% (7/32); all fatal cases were aged 78 and older. Similarly, the functional decline and residual damage appeared only in the older age group (>or=75). Eighty-eight percent of the survivors returned to their premorbid function. In contrast to other viral infections, chronic conditions in the subjects had no effect on the outcome.
Conclusions:
In older adults, WNF carries a high death rate, but the outcome is favorable for the survivors.
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