West Nile Virus has been in the news a lot over the last year or so, and with good reason: It can be fatal. Hundreds of cases have been diagnosed in the U.S., with 57 deaths, including 11 in Texas and one in Central Texas.

Actually, most cases of WNV are not dangerous — provided the individual has immune protection. Those who become critically ill and die from the virus are typically immune suppressed. Most of these people have been elderly, because old age is a great depressant of the immune system. Severe diabetics, cancer, chemo, or transplant patients, and babies are also candidates — and so are people with AIDS (PWA’s). Someone who is only HIV-positive but otherwise healthy has nothing to worry about; but when the individual has reached the AIDS stage, there is insufficient immune protection left.

Now that the weather has cooled just a bit, people in Austin are getting outdoors even more. A precaution needs to be taken, however, by PWA’s: Avoid mosquitoes, if at all possible. Suggestions:

· Stay indoors during peak mosquito hours.

· Avoid environments in which mosquitoes thrive.

This article appears in Stan Knee.

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