Sep 10, 2005 4:38 pm US/Eastern
NH Records First Death From EEE
NEWTON, NH (AP) ―
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The Newton, NH woman was brought to a Boston hospital with symptoms of the disease.
CBS
State health officials say a 20-year-old Newton woman died Friday of Eastern equine encephalitis.
This marks the fifth confirmed case of Triple E in the state this year but the first time someone has died.
Health officials said the woman was taken to a Boston hospital on Sept. 3 with symptoms of the disease. An initial test was inconclusive, according to Dr. Jose Montero, the state epidemiologist.
A subsequent test confirmed on Saturday she had the disease, he said.
"The death of this young woman is terrible tragedy," Health Commissioner John Stephen said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones at this difficult time. We are currently working to determine where she might have been during the past few weeks to understand where she acquired EEE."
Montero says testing of mosquitoes in the Kingston-Newton-Plaistow area have made it clear the illness has a foothold there.
"That is clearly an area where there's a lot of endemic activity and people clearly have to be careful," he said.
Four other confirmed cases of the disease in New Hampshire involved people in Londonderry, Goffstown, Manchester and Concord. All four were treated at area hospitals and have since been released.
State health officials continue to advise people to wear bug repellant along with long sleeves and long pants and to empty any standing water on their property where mosquitos could breed.
"Eastern equine encephalitis typically manifests with flu-like symptoms initially of fever and malaise," Montero said. "The disease then frequently results in individuals having a severe headache and other neurological effects that result in a change in mental status."
Statistically, about a third of patients who contract the illness die from it. Two of three patients with the illness in Massachusetts have died this year.
Montero said New Hampshire had been unusually lucky until this death.
"It is clear this is a deadly disease," he said.
Health officials continue to watch for new cases of Triple E. They say the danger should subside as the weather gets colder, but Montero said it will take at least two good frosts to kill off the mosquito population for the year. That's unlikely to happen before October.
Officials observe the disease tends to operate in cycles and they're bracing for new cases next year. Montero said much remains unknown about how infected birds and mosquitoes interact to trigger outbreaks of human infection.
"For the next several years, local authorities need to plan how they're going to deal with this," Montero said.
Health officials have set up a toll-free line for information on Triple E and the West Nile virus at 1-866-273-6453.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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