He beat cancer – but now he’s having to relearn to walk after insect bite paralyzed him
A cancer survivor from Texas is relearning how to walk after contracting a crippling mosquito-borne virus.
Prospero Rangel, 78, was outside his home in Brazos County when he was bitten and immediately began feeling ‘so itchy’.
Over the following days he began suffering body aches, joint pain, weakness and a fever before being admitted to hospital a week later.
He was diagnosed with West Nile Virus, which is becoming more prevalent in the US due to the warming climate.
However, Rangel is among the 1 percent of patients who develop a severe form of the virus, which causing dangerous swelling of the brain.
Prospero Rangel, pictured with his daughter Sara Salzer, was outside his home in Brazos County when he sustained two bites from a mosquito. He went on to contract
Rangel’s daughter, Sara Salzer, told local news channel KBTX: ‘We’ve been told that there are going to be some symptoms that are going to stay with him for a while.
‘We were even told that he may have to do outpatient therapy for the next year.’
The grandfather is the second human case of the West Nile virus in the Brazos County area in 2024.
The first case was reported in mid-September but no details were given around the severity of the person’s infection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 62 reported human cases of West Nile virus so far this year across the US.
This compares to 1,868 human cases of West Nile illness and 89 deaths during a serious outbreak in 2012, which shows efforts to curtail the virus have paid off.
It generally takes between three and 14 days for the disease to develop.
Around 80 percent of infected people are asymptomatic (no symptoms), but some 20% will develop fever.
And about 1,000 people are hospitalized each year in the U.S. with the most severe form of the disease, which if it spreads to the brain and nervous system, can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death with a three to 15 percent mortality rate.
The West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-spread disease in the continental US
People over the age of 60 are at greater risk for severe illness if they are infected, as are those with with certain medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease.
So far this year, there have been 748 human cases of West Nile virus in the U.S., including 515 severe or ‘neuroinvasive’ cases
There is no specific treatment for the virus or vaccine, but 80 percent of cases are mild, where sufferers may experience flu-like symptoms or rashes.
The CDC states that the best way to prevent West Nile is to protect yourself from mosquito bites.
Bite prevention tips include using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and using mosquito repellent devices outside and around the home.
In Brazos County, property owners have been encouraged to remove standing water while ensuring that lawn irrigation and onsite sewage systems are properly maintained.
Larvicide can also be used to treat any areas where mosquitoes could lay eggs.
