A UMC student diagnosed with West Nile

GRAND JUNCTION, Colonel (KKCO / KJCT News) – Two weeks ago, Kaylee Russell, a sophomore from CMU, was hanging out with friends and taking pictures near Broadway Bridge in the Redlands area. Later, she realized that she had several mosquito bites.

"I did not think it was a big problem, I just thought it was mosquito bites," Russell said.

A few days later, she felt the symptoms, causing an extremely high fever.

"My stomach hurt, I was really nauseous, my neck ached, I just did not feel well," Russell said.

She was treated at St. Mary's Hospital. The doctors had the first impression that she was skeptical.

"After an x-ray, I did a scan of the cat and they told me to have an MRI because they needed to see if I had tumors." This Thursday, it's when they finally realized that I had West Nile in the cephalic fluid, "says Russell.

St. Mary could not confirm that it was West Nile virus and the Mesa County Public Health Department has not yet received a record confirming any diagnosis of West Nile virus.

"When someone tests positive for West Nile [they must take] some type of test called IGM test. When the result is positive, laboratories are required to report it to their local public health agency within four days, "says Heidi Dragoo, Mesa County Public Health.

Kaylee's personal doctors say that she has West Nile. There is no cure or prescription over the counter for the virus. Kaylee says she has to rest until she feels better:

"My doctor told me that I had to miss the first three days of college, which is really frustrating, and, realizing that, I had to give up all my NC courses."

Kaylee must now take online courses. Due to her late registration, she was unable to sign up for many of the credits she needs. She says that this could delay the date of her graduation. Although she is on the road to recovery, she says that the initial uncertainty of her condition was frightening.

"You can not handle this alone. You can not go to the hospital, you can not go to the doctor. It's really overwhelming, "says Russell.