West Nile, estimated 10,000 infections. Peak expected after mid-August

The alert for the West Nile virus remains high. The number of cases in Italy is growing, and the death toll is also growing by the day: at the moment, eight patients have died since the beginning of the year. And the number of infections estimated on the national territory is also worrying: they would be at least 10,000, the majority in asymptomatic form. The peak of cases is expected after mid-August, but the unpredictability of this virus spread by common Culex mosquitoes is also cause for concern.

The latest victim is a 72-year-old man who died in the hospital of Caserta, where he was hospitalised. This is the fourth death in Campania and the eighth in Italy. The elderly man, from Maddaloni, in the Caserta area, had previous illnesses and a complex clinical picture. Another of the four Campania victims was also from Maddaloni. As for the number of confirmed cases, the latest bulletin of the Higher Institute of Health, dating back to last week, reported 31, mainly concentrated in Lazio and Campania.

In just a few days, however, reported and confirmed infections have increased considerably. Also on Tuesday, two new cases were registered in Lombardy. They were two women, a 38-year-old woman in Milan and a 66-year-old woman in Pavia. Only the latter is currently hospitalised. And in Campania, also on Tuesday, two more cases of positivity to the virus were reported, and one of the patients is in serious condition. In L'Aquila, investigations are under way into a single reported suspected case.

As for blood donations, in the provinces where the presence of the virus has been certified, specific tests are performed on the bags. In the other regions where the virus is not detected, the donor will have to abstain for 28 days if he or she has stayed in areas at risk.

Meanwhile, Lazio Region President Francesco Rocca signed an urgent ordinance to prevent the spread of the West Nile virus. The ordinance stipulates that the municipalities in the region with viral circulation in progress must carry out, urgently and without delay, extraordinary interventions for vector control, with particular regard to disinfestation activities, as indicated by the territorially competent local health authorities, with the collaboration of the Zooprophylactic Institute of Lazio and Tuscany, which verifies the activities and interventions for the purpose of granting aid. The financing of these interventions - the Region specifies - will be guaranteed by extraordinary economic resources allocated by the Lazio Region with a special resolution of the Council.