West Nile: fourth death in Lazio. Mosquito net requests boom in the province of Rome
A 50% increase in requests for mosquito nets in the province of Rome due to the spread of the West Nile virus.
3' min read
3' min read
A 93-year-old woman died at the Spallanzani in Rome from the West Nile virus. The patient, originally from Cisterna di Latina, had been admitted to the San Paolo hospital in Velletri from where she was later transferred to the Spallanzani in Rome. This is the fourth case of death from West Nile in Lazio.
S.O.S West Nile. The mosquito-borne infectious disease is causing quite a bit of concern. And more and more people are looking for effective and quick solutions to protect themselves. "Hello... you sell mosquito nets right? How long does it take to install them all over the house? I don't feel safe and I'm afraid of the West Nile virus'. This is Stefania, a woman from the province of Rome, one of the cities most affected by the problem, expressing a fear that is now widely shared.
Retailers, specialised centres and installers describe scenes of true summer panic: phone calls are multiplying, e-mails are arriving in flurries and the requests, in some cases, are also... bizarre. "These days, our switchboards are swamped with phone calls,' says Marco Sardilli of 'Flli Pasqualini' in Pomezia, 'We are also asked medical questions, but we are not doctors.
Confirming the climate of great concern is the testimony of another retailer: "We receive calls all the time, the enquiries no longer only concern sizes and prices, but also whether the net is 'virus proof' or whether it can stop the mosquito before it develops symptoms," explains Claudio Oggiano of 'Tenda System' in Valledoria.
A picture that tells well how the fear of the virus has triggered a race for protection, transforming mosquito nets from a traditional accessory into an indispensable barrier this season. A concern that also translates into numbers. "Compared to last year, we will be up 50% in requests for quotations, with particular interest in anti-mosquito Culex solutions, the West Nile vector", explains Marco Marcantoni, sales manager of the SharkNet Company, of Monterotondo Scalo (Rome), one of the best known companies in the sector.
