Aug 31, 2007 - 04:04:30 CDT
When the state health department delivered its weekly West Nile address on Wednesday, it didn't tell you that Clifford Kolden was killed last week by a mosquito.Kolden was a World War II veteran who survived three years behind the lines in Europe. But he was no match for West Nile virus. It killed him in three days, his wife said.
The Roseglen man died last Friday. He was 89.
Five days after Kolden's death, the health department released its most recent West Nile figures. It didn't say the virus had killed another person. It didn't even say it was investigating a death.
But it was. In fact, it was investigating two.
In a statement Thursday, the department announced the state's second West Nile-related death of 2007. It said he was a resident of northwestern North Dakota who died of West Nile while hospitalized. It said the man was older than 60 and had underlying medical conditions.
That man was likely Kolden. There is still no information available to the public on the other case under investigation.
Kolden's physician in Minot, Dr. Maya Dillas, said the department's own tests confirmed he had West Nile last week. She said the virus was what took his life.
"Unfortunately, he did expire, and that was because of West Nile," Dillas said Thursday. "I don't think most people realize this is a threat. ... It really can be a life-threatening disease."
Health department spokeswoman Loreeta Canton told the Tribune on Tuesday that the department was investigating two West Nile-related deaths. She wouldn't divulge any more information, and it wasn't included in the weekly update.
"One of the reasons we investigate is (the victim) may have had West Nile, but it may not have contributed to their death," Canton said.
Kolden's wife said he had no underlying illness that would have contributed to his death. His doctor, Dillas, said West Nile was responsible for his death.
"He didn't have any other health issues; he was always blessed with good health," said Kolden's wife of 60 years, Ella. "It's something that, once it hit, it all happened so fast. They thought he had a gallstone, then they thought it was pneumonia. It took 72 hours to determine if it was West Nile. When the tests came back, the doctor there said it was West Nile."
Kolden's funeral was Monday.
One week earlier, he was in good health. He attended a zoning meeting in Washburn, then returned home to Roseglen. His wife said Kolden went to bed a little earlier than normal that night.
"At 6 a.m. the next morning, he had a temperature of 103 and was so weak he couldn't even sit up," Ella Kolden said. "It hit just like that. Ihad the ambulance come, and they took him to Garrison."
Kolden was transported to Minot soon thereafter.
"You get to the hospital, and you think you're going to get better, but it just got worse and worse," Ella Kolden said. "His temperature was so high, and he was just shaking. His whole body was just shaking out of the bed."
Kolden died Aug. 24. The health department, which performed his blood test, knew he had West Nile well before it released its statistical update on Wednesday. The update contained no information about a West Nile-related death.
Michelle Feist, the West Nile virus surveillance coordinator for the health department, said the death wouldn't have made a difference in the department's message.
"Whenever we do a release that there has been a West Nile virus-related death, it is the health department's policy to investigate that - that the death was related to West Nile," Feist said Thursday. "It does take time to do that. The message from the health department of people taking precautions doesn't change. Whether there's a death or no death, we recommend that people outside (take precautions against mosquitoes)."
Feist said the department wouldn't confirm individual cases of West Nile deaths.
Kolden's doctor and wife know it was West Nile that took him.
Ella Kolden just doesn't know how.
"I don't know when he was bitten by a mosquito; I didn't think there were a lot of mosquitoes around," she said. "All these years when we were farming, mosquitoes would sit on Clifford's arms, and they didn't even bite him. I was always so envious because they bite me and Iswell up. They never bit him. They never even bothered him. There must have been one out there that shouldn't have been there."
Dillas said Kolden was presenting classic symptoms of West Nile virus, which she said can be particularly troublesome to the elderly or infirm. Since it's a viral disease, she said, there isn't a treatment.
"Most of us don't think about mosquito repellent, we're like, 'Yeah, right, I'm going to use that every time,'" Dillas said.
"It's really important that people, particularly those at higher risk (of complications from West Nile), take precautions."
The number of human West Nile virus cases in North Dakota increased substantially from the health department's Aug. 22 and Aug. 29 updates. The department reports 152 confirmed human cases, up from 110 a week ago. West Nile also has been documented in 44 counties, up nine from last week.
West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause symptoms similar to the flu. Most infected people never get sick from the virus, but in rare cases it can lead to severe illness or death. August is considered to be the peak month for West Nile in the state. The health department has confirmed one other death from the virus this year. A man from southeastern North Dakota died from West Nile and other medical complications, the health department reported July 25.
Last year, North Dakota reported 137 confirmed human cases of the West Nile virus and one death.
(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@;bismarcktribune.com.)
not likely wrote on Aug 31, 2007 4:05 PM:
doc k wrote on Aug 31, 2007 12:04 PM:
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