Suspected West Nile Encephalitis Case Turns Up In Queens

by HOWARD GIRSKY What may turn out to be the latest case of the West Nile virus walked stiffly into Dr. Glenn Waldman’s office at New York Hospital Queens Medical Center early yesterday (Sept. 28), The Queens Courier has learned exclusively.
The neurologist had first seen the 72-year-old Whitestone man two weeks before. He had complained then about headaches, fever and an abnormal weakness. But on Tuesday, the patient was still feeling poorly and the neurologist performed a spinal tap. Waldman sent the fluid to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for evaluation.
"We’re waiting to see if the patient’s specimen is confirmed as West Nile encephalitis," the doctor said.
If it is, then fears are expected to rise that the area may still be in the throes of the outbreak. Health officials had thought that the previously misdiagnosed St. Louis encephalitis had moved on to Westchester and Connecticut.
Last week medical authorities who thought they were coping with St. Louis encephalitis discovered in a scientific turnabout that the virus was actually an even rarer strain called the West Nile virus.
"The big question around here," Dr. Waldman said, "is have we seen the end of the outbreak in Queens.."
The neurological specialist broke his silence on his involvement in the early days of the encephalitis scare in an exclusive interview with The Queens Courier.
Waldman was the neurologist who examined the initial seven cases in August — patients who lived near the "hot zone" in northern Queens.
"Things evolved rapidly in mid-August when I took over the neurological service for a period," he said. "We were all uncomfortable with the diagnosis."
Waldman said the patients were all feverish, confused with neurological syndromes and fatigued. He said three of the patients were hospitalized at NYHQ and four at Flushing Hospital.
"I examined all of them," he said. "We felt unsure of what we were dealing with and none of the physicians had ever seen anything like this before."
The neurologist said he tried a "shotgun" approach and gave the patients medications for bacteria, protozoa and viruses.
"But they were getting worse," Waldman said.
Waldman said that "in hindsight" he recalls a female patient in July came in with similar symptoms.
"We were in angst over the case," Waldman said and used the "shotgun" approach to treat her.
Waldman said that previous suspected cases need to be retested for the West Nile virus to determine if they are infected.
Asked about the citywide spraying operation and his opinion of its effectiveness and safety, Waldman had this to say:
"I have a letter in my drawer to Governor George Pataki, Mayor Giuliani and Dr. Neil Cohen, Commissioner of Health in the City," he said. "It offers them my appreciation for the extraordinary efforts turned in by the governmental agencies that have dealt with this serious situation."
Meanwhile, there is growing concern the infected mosquitoes have been responsible for a die-off of Monarch butterflies which are headed on their annual migration to Mexico.
According to Don Riepe, a naturalist at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge there were Monarch butterflies spotted last week, but he was worried there weren’t more.
"Four thousand butterflies passed over Rockaway Beach on Sept. 19, and he wondered at that time if the city’s spraying campaign might have had something to do with the absence of wings in the air.
As revelations of the West Nile virus hit the press and television there were renewed concerns about spraying operations in Queens. Weekly demonstrations have been held in front of Borough Hall by members of the Green Party.
The first picketers numbered 15, grew to 40 in the second week and 60 in the third week.
Joyce Shepard, a local community activist, said her group had adopted a "wait and see attitude," based on her conversation Sept. 28 with City Health Commissioner Neil Cohen.
"Dr. Cohen told me he was going to sit down with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explore the possibility of using non-toxic insecticides to control the mosquito infestation," she said.
Shepard has proposed replacing malathion with mechanical traps, dry ice and other techniques that do not involve the use of toxic substances.
She said that if spraying with malathion continues, her strategy calls for mounting demonstrations of the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management and at the City Department of Health.
"You can be sure," she said, "that our demonstrations in Manhattan will attract large crowds," she said. "Dr. Cohen knows I mean business."
A legal challenge to malathion was hurled at the Mayor by Steve Greenspan, executive director of the PEST Institute (Pesticide, Education and Safety Training) of Nassau County.
He charged on Fox Five Television this week that the Mayor failed to gain approval of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He said that under Article 33-101 malathion’s use is restricted because of the "present or future risk of harmful effects on any organism other than the new target organism." (See Op-Ed on page 11)
On the Monarch butterflies, Greenspan said that the "spray will in fact kill off most if not all of the migratory Monarch butterflies which are now actively heading south to winter for warmer climes. "The migratory path took them right through the New York metropolitan region as it was targeted and sprayed."
Greenspan said the damage inflicted will be major and wipe the butterflies off the planet."