Woman speaks after partner delayed in treating West Nile virus

<! –

->

On August 29, we released the first two reports of West Nile virus in Riverside County. It may be that there has been a third case.

Joan Sotomayor of Palm Springs said her partner contracted the virus after a morning walk in mid-July. They drove their dogs near the Gene Autry Trail. About a week later, he became ill.

"In a few days, the symptoms resembled those of the flu, with headaches, high fever and stiff neck," said Joan Sotomayor.

She says her partner has been rushed to the emergency room of the Desert Regional Medical Center. Joan says that he was misdiagnosed and sent home with antibiotics, but the next day the situation worsened. His partner was hospitalized again and stayed there for 5 days, while the doctors performed tests.

"They released it on July 29 and the same day, the crop became positive again for West Nile."

Joan says the doctors found traces of the virus in her partner's cerebrospinal fluid. She then launched into action to try to get the message out to the public. She began her research online and first contacted the California Department of Public Health.

"In fact, I did not know who to contact, I knew it was not reported, but as a citizen, I had never really had to do it before," Sotomayor said.

After more research, Joan realized that the Riverside County Public Health Department would be the first agency to have this information. The state agency said they were not receiving any county reports and then advised Joan to contact the Riverside Department directly.

The couple was surprised to see that the first two reports on West Nile were published nearly a month later, without however including their case.

Barbara Cole, director of disease control at the Riverside County Public Health Department, explains that each case varies. She says the department has to wait for certain criteria before it can report, and even that can take a minimum of 1 to 2 weeks.

"Are the files complete? Should we call and get more? Can we interview the person? And if test results are pending, we have to wait for them ,? said Barbara Cole.

Barbara says that not all cases are reported, but that does not mean that they are not counted.

Joan Sotomayor said the California Department of Public Health had since announced that her partner's case would be officially reported.