Breast
Cancer & The West Nile Virus
WNV has been
discovered in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New
York State including New York City and is expected to continue spreading
as each new summer brings more outbreaks.
What exactly
is the West Nile Virus
and what is it's relationship to breast cancer?
The WNV is
a newcomer to the US. It was first found in the West Nile Region of Uganda
in 1937. There have been sporadic outbreaks in the intervening years.
Most cases of the virus resemble any other virus, with body aches and
fevers.
West Nile
virus can cause a spectrum of illness which ranges from no symptoms to
mild illness. In the very young, the elderly and those with a compromised
immune system the virus may develop into fatal encephalitis or aseptic
meningitis.
Vocal protests
about spraying are intermingled with health department warnings. The first
epidemic in New York that started the spraying included 31 confirmed and
25 probable cases. There were seven deaths.
For anyone
who is undergoing chemotherapy low immune function is part of the cost
of fighting cancer. So it would seem that breast cancer advocates would
be happy that the local governments are taking strong steps to eradicate
this virus.
New York
sprayed Malathion
in 1999, but changed to resmethrin
(Scourge) and sumithrin
(Anvil) for the 2000 effort. In Boston, only resemethrin is being used.
These pesticides are under fire as potentially toxic chemicals that pose
a danger to humans, wildlife and the environment.
Some
of these chemicals have been shown to increase estrogen activity in animals
and consequently have been linked to breast-cancer risk. These pesticides
are stored by the body in fatty tissue, including breast tissue.
How
big a risk these products pose is a matter of debate. Some studies suggest
that environmental exposure is related to the risk of breast cancer only
in postmenopausal women who have never breast-fed, and is not a risk factor
for breast cancer for the population at large.
The danger of increasing the risk of cancer in the areas being sprayed
has to be weighed against the danger of an epidemic of the virus.
August 14,
2000
Last
updated April 15, 2006
Elsewhere
on the Web:
CDC
West Nile Virus Homepage
Pesticides,
organochlorines, and radiation as breast cancer risks
