Tenth West Nile fever death in North Macedonia: 70-year-old dies after 57 days in intensive care

The number of West Nile fever victims in North Macedonia has reached ten, as Centar.mk reports. The latest victim is a 70-year-old from the Aerodrom municipality in Skopje, who died after 57 days of treatment in the intensive care unit.

According to the same Centar.mk report, seven patients are currently hospitalized at the Infectious Diseases Clinic, two of them in more serious clinical condition. Since the start of the season, 67 patients with the neuroinvasive form of the disease have been hospitalized at the clinic.

The development comes after a period of relative calm: reports from a few days earlier spoke of four days without new cases and 12 patients hospitalized at the Infectious Diseases Clinic, three of them in intensive care. The ninth victim, a 66-year-old from Kumanovo, had died on September 21 after 28 days of treatment.

West Nile fever is transmitted through the bite of Culex mosquitoes, and the neuroinvasive form of the disease is the most dangerous, especially for the elderly. Health authorities urge citizens to take protective measures against mosquitoes.