West Nile Virus infection in the province of Seville. An emergent infection in Spain

Introduction: West Nile Virus (WNV) is becoming a severe problem in Europe. In 2020 and 2024, two unexpected and large outbreaks occurred in southern Spain, with a high rate of West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease (WNND). Objective: The aim of this study is to describe clinical and prognostic features of...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Caro-Leiro, Ana, Martínez Pérez-Crespo, Pedro María, Aguilar-Guisado, Manuela, Roca Oporto, Cristina, Lozano Domínguez, Carmen, Merino Díaz, Laura, Infante Domínguez, Carmen, Lepe Jiménez, José Antonio, Merchante, Nicolás, Cisneros, José Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/180536
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/180536
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2025.103072
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:West Nile (WNV)
Culex
West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease (WNND)
West Nile Fever (WNF)
One Health
Descripción
Sumario:Introduction: West Nile Virus (WNV) is becoming a severe problem in Europe. In 2020 and 2024, two unexpected and large outbreaks occurred in southern Spain, with a high rate of West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease (WNND). Objective: The aim of this study is to describe clinical and prognostic features of WNV infection. Materials and methods Retrospective multicentric cohort study of patients diagnosed with WNV infection in Seville (Spain) between 2020 and 2024. Results: 196 patients, 58.2 % of males, were diagnosed with WNV disease with a median age of 70 (49−78) for WNND and 46 (33−65) for West Nile Fever (WNF). One hundred eight patients (55.1 %) had associated comorbidity, including 22 (11.2 %) immunocompromised patients. 138 (70.4 %) patients required hospital admission with WNND (136, 69.4 %) as the main clinical syndrome, and 33 (16.8 %) were admitted to the ICU. Twenty-five patients (12.7 %) died during their admission; all of these patients had WNND. Twenty-one of the deaths (84 %) were directly related to meningoencephalitis. One hundred (58.5 %) of the survivors had sequelae at discharge. Conclusion: In Spain, the first two large and unexpected outbreaks of WNV infection occurred in 2020 and 2024, resulting in high morbidity and mortality.