Treating Powassan Virus

Holly Frost, MD, pediatrics physician scientist at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, in Minocqua, Wisconsin, discusses the treatment of Powassan virus.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Currently, the treatment [for Powassan virus] is largely supportive. Very little is known about the virus because we don’t have a lot of data in humans, so there’s no specific treatment that we can recommend.

In general, for supportive care, we recommend fluids, if needed, [and] providing basic care for encephalitis, [which] can include ICU care, neuro-rehabilitation after the infection. We recommend treating this like you would any other patient with encephalitis, or possibly as you would a patient who has West Nile encephalitis, because we don’t know what the best course of treatment is.”