a 1 Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, via A. Gabelli 63, 35121 Padova, Italy.
b 2 Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova University Hospital, via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padova, Italy.
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2015;13(11):1373-86. doi: 10.1586/14787210.2015.1083859. Epub 2015 Aug 31.
West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging flavivirus responsible for an increasing number of outbreaks of neuroinvasive disease in North America, Europe, and neighboring countries. Almost all WNV infections in humans are transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Transmission during pregnancy and through breastfeeding has been reported, but the risk seems to be very low. West Nile disease in children is less common (1-5% of all WNV cases) and associated with milder symptoms and better outcome than in elderly individuals, even though severe neuroinvasive disease and death have been reported also among children. However, the incidence of WNV infection and disease in children is probably underestimated and the disease spectrum is not fully understood because of lack of reporting and underdiagnosis in children. Infection is diagnosed by detection of WNV-specific antibodies in serum and WNV RNA in plasma and urine. Since no effective WNV-specific drugs are available, therapy is mainly supportive.
西尼罗河病毒（WNV）是一种新兴的黄病毒，在北美、欧洲和邻国造成越来越多的神经侵入性疾病爆发。几乎所有人类的 WNV 感染都是通过感染蚊子的叮咬传播的。已经报道了在怀孕期间和通过母乳喂养的传播，但风险似乎非常低。儿童中的西尼罗河病比较少见（所有 WNV 病例的 1-5%），与老年人相比，症状较轻，预后较好，尽管也有儿童出现严重的神经侵入性疾病和死亡。然而，由于儿童中报告和诊断不足，WNV 感染和疾病的发生率可能被低估，疾病谱也不完全清楚。通过检测血清中的 WNV 特异性抗体和血浆及尿液中的 WNV RNA 来诊断感染。由于没有有效的 WNV 特异性药物，治疗主要是支持性的。
