A relatively rare and harmless virus, spread by mosquitos. Symptoms include fever, headache, and body aches, with occasional skin rashes and/or swollen lymph nodes. A few weeks of bed rest
will usually take care of it.
But if West Nile is such a weak virus, why has the news media gone crazy over it? News stations in
America have taken advantage of a rare condition called encephalitis to turn the molehill of West Nile into a mountain that rivals the Ebola virus. Encephalitis is a swelling of the
brain - a very serious condition that can SOMETIMES be caused by West Nile. Note that when I say "sometimes" I mean it in the sense that "sometimes" people
die from chickenpox. Tons of common childhood diseases can cause encephalitis, including measels, chickenpox,
mono, and the flu. Remember that the next
time CNN tries to warn you about the evil mosquitoes that are threatening to
kill us all.
When I got west
nile, I was out of school for 3 days. When I got the chickenpox, I was out of school for
almost a month. Think about that for
awhile.