A rare respiratory virus that's been sending hundreds of children to the hospital across the Midwest is continuing to spread. As of Wednesday, 140 cases have been confirmed in 16 states (and seven in Canada), spreading east from the Midwest and South; according to the CDC, the real number is probably higher.
"We can assume it’s probably everywhere," Dr. Saul Hymes, who specializes in Pediatric Infectious Disease at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, in New York, told Salon. In the cases not yet lit up on the CDC's map, it either hasn't been identified yet or is "almost certainly" going to arrive soon.
Although polio and coxsackie (which can cause hand, foot and mouth disease) are enteroviruses, most varieties aren't usually a cause for alarm. In fact, they're quite common in the summer and early fall, causing up to 15 million infections each year in the U.S. Most people who become infected display symptoms similar to the common cold, and sometimes fever, rash or diarrhea. What's different about this strain, of non-polio enterovirus D68, is that it's causing respiratory symptoms. In some cases, it's causing severe respiratory disease, particularly in younger children with preexisting conditions like asthma, leading to an unusually high number of hospitalizations.
EV-D68 is less common than other strains of enterovirus, but it isn't new; the reason why you're hearing about how mysterious it is, Hymes explains, is that this current outbreak is larger than ones we've seen in the past -- and health officials aren't sure why it's spreading so aggressively. Some speculate that the outbreak's coinciding with the start of school could be contributing to its severity. Asthma flares are also common this time of year; that and fall allergies, combined with a virus that exacerbates respiratory symptoms, could help explain the hospitalizations. Most of the kids who are winding up in the ICU seem to have those risk factors, added Hymes. It's likely that there are more children walking around with minor symptoms.
There's no treatment or vaccine for the virus. Parents, Hymes said, should be extra aware about prevention -- washing hands, covering your mouth when you cough, etc. -- although parents of kids with preexisting conditions like asthma should be especially cautious. Still, "it's not like the CDC is telling anyone to quarantine their kids," he added.
We also just aren't used to seeing respiratory diseases during this time of the year, meaning health officials have been caught off-guard. But so far, there haven't been any deaths, which Hymes says is a good sign. "Given that this sort of hit everybody by surprise, it seems like people have been doing a pretty good job in terms of the kids who do get sick with it," he told Salon. "That's very encouraging."
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