The West Nile Virus and the dialysis/transplant patient.

Viruses are microscopic particles that contain genetic information surrounded by a protein shell that protects the virus as it travels from cell to cell or from organism to organism. The protein shell also helps the virus develop its genetic information into the susceptible cell. A virus can only survive by living inside of the cells of another host organism. For this reason, some scientists do not consider viruses living things, since they cannot survive on their own. In the case of the West Nile Virus, individual virus particles are introduced into the bloodstream of a host through the bite of an infected mosquito. The virus then travels through the bloodstream to find a suitable cell in the body in which it can replicate. Successful replication creates many new virions that then return to the bloodstream and look for additional cells to enter and use to replicate (Sfakianos, 2005).