Anthony Fauci is recovering at home after being hospitalized with West Nile virus

Dr. Anthony Fauci is recovering from West Nile virus.

Saturday, Aug. 24, a spokeswoman for the 83-year-old former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. The Washington Post He was hospitalized but is now recovering at home.

“A full recovery is expected,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Post A person close to Fauci said they were not sure how he contracted the virus and that he was hospitalized for six days.

Dr. Jonathan LaBook, Chief Medical Correspondent for CBS News, Published in X He told Fauci that he had been admitted to the hospital 10 days earlier and was suffering from “fever, chills and severe fatigue”.

“Evaluation revealed that he was infected with West Nile virus from a mosquito bite found in his backyard,” LaBook wrote. “He left the hospital three days ago and is recovering at home.”

LaPook added, “The prognosis is for full recovery.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Nile virus is most often transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito (or sometimes birds) (CDC) can be found in the US and other parts of the world. Symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea or rash.

Although there is no vaccine for West Nile virus, the CDC says people can avoid the disease by using bug spray, wearing long sleeves or pants, and taking steps to prevent mosquitoes from entering the home if they know mosquitoes are around.

Fauci worked at the NIH for more than four decades, advising to help shape public policy to combat HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, avian influenza, swineflu, Zika and Ebola. Throughout her career, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, and 62 honorary doctorates.

He rose to fame in 2020 for advising the public and then-President Donald Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He retired in 2023 and now serves as a distinguished university professor at Georgetown University with a joint appointment at the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy, the people said.

Speaking to People in July about her new memoir, On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public ServiceHe opened up about what he’s learned in his decades-long career and the changing attitudes of the American public toward science and public health.

“I’m not naive,” he told People at the time. “I am aware of the destructive nature of the anti-science attitude that has been rapidly growing in society over the past several years.” The problem “didn’t start with the Trump administration,” he said, “although it was given a big jumpstart with the Trump administration.”

Don’t miss a story – Sign up for People’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date with the best people has to offer, from celebrity news to human interest stories.

“I still feel like a cautious optimist that the best angels will come out of everyone,” he explained.

“If people really start to realize that we’re more alike than we are different, we’ll get away from that bigotry and that hatred because it’s unacceptable,” Fauci added. “Even if you’re in that camp, deep down, you have to realize that it’s not a solution. It’s just not there.”