Key result
West Nile virus can present as acute flaccid paralysis and myelitis without symptoms of encephalitis, requiring high clinical suspicion in patients with fever and motor weakness.
Why the study?
Other viruses have been implicated in poliomyelitis-like syndromes since the elimination of poliovirus, including West Nile virus causing fever, encephalitis, and acute flaccid paralysis.
Case Report (n=1)
West Nile virus can present as acute flaccid paralysis (myelitis) without encephalitis, mimicking poliomyelitis, and requires high clinical suspicion in endemic areas.
Poliovirus has been eradicated in the US for 40 years. Its sequelae, poliomyelitis, a syndrome characterized by fever, meningitis, and flaccid paralysis, is a rare entity. Other viruses have been implicated in poliomyelitis-like syndromes since the elimination of poliovirus. West Nile virus (WNV), since its westward migration in 1999, has recently been found to be a causative agent of fever, encephalitis, and acute flaccid paralysis. We present the case of a male who presented to the hospital for fever and experienced a subsequent fall, without any symptoms of encephalitis, diagnosed with WNV infection.
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Chan et al. (2019) conducted a case report in West Nile Myelitis (n=1). West Nile virus infection was evaluated. West Nile virus can present as acute flaccid paralysis and myelitis without symptoms of encephalitis, requiring high clinical suspicion in patients with fever and motor weakness.
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