Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

Wegener granulomatosis
See 
granulomatosis,
Wegener.
welt
See 
hive.
Werner syndrome
A premature aging disease
that begins in adolescence or early adulthood and
results in apparent old age by 30–40 years of age.
Characteristic features include short stature, prema-
ture graying, early baldness, wizened face, beaked
nose, cataracts, skin changes reminiscent of those in
scleroderma, deposits of calcium beneath the skin,
premature arteriosclerosis, and a tendency to dia-
betes and to tumors (especially osteosarcoma and
meningioma). Werner syndrome is inherited in an
autosomal recessive manner and is due to mutation
in the WRN gene on chromosome 8, which encodes
Ww
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RecQ DNA helicase, an enzyme that catalyzes the
unwinding of DNA.
Werner-His disease
See 
trench fever.
West Nile virus
A febrile disease that is trans-
mitted from birds to mosquitoes and then to people
by mosquito bites. The virus is named after the area
in which it was first found, in Uganda. West Nile
virus occurs in parts of Africa and Asia and, infre-
quently, in Southern Europe, the Middle East, and
the US. West Nile virus had never been seen in birds
or people in the Western Hemisphere prior to an
outbreak in summer 1999 in New York City. Since
that time, it has spread across the US. Most affected
people have no symptoms or minor symptoms, but
a febrile illness may develop accompanied by
drowsiness, headache and nausea due to encephali-
tis, pain in the abdomen, a rash, and swollen glands
(lymphadenopathy). Fatal cases tend to involve
infants and small children under age 5, the aged,
and people with impaired immune systems.
Prevention of mosquito bites can help prevent infec-
tion. Also known as West Nile encephalitis. See also
encephalitis.