The hospitalization last summer of Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with West Nile virus—and his account of it this week in The New York Times—have helped raise public awareness of the dangers of mosquito borne-illness, which can range from Zika and malaria to dengue and West Nile virus.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports: “Mild winters, early springs, and warmer temperatures are giving mosquitoes and ticks more time to reproduce, spread diseases, and expand their habitats throughout the United States.” Driven in part by climate change, epidemics from mosquito-spread viruses are occurring with increasing frequency.
Yet only 15% of the American public worry that they or their families will contract dengue or West Nile virus over the new three months, according to the latest Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) health knowledge survey. This nationally representative panel survey of over 1,700 U.S. adults, conducted in mid- through late September, finds that public knowledge about these mosquito-borne diseases and how to prevent them is spotty.
As of Oct. 1, 880 U.S. cases of West Nile virus were reported this year, according to the CDC, and West Nile virus continues to be the leading U.S. cause of viral disease spread by insects. West Nile is not the only mosquito-borne disease making headlines.
Despite the finding that most people know one can become infected with dengue fever or West Nile virus via a mosquito bite, many are unaware of the symptoms of West Nile virus. When presented with a list of symptoms, both true and not, well under half selected the symptoms of West Nile virus identified by the CDC.
“As Dr. Fauci’s experience reminds us,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and director of the survey, “you don’t have to travel to exotic places to come in contact with mosquitoes able to cause serious illness. They may be lurking in your own backyard.”
Read more at Annenberg Public Policy Center.
