The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued an advisory after the number of children hospitalized with acute respiratory illnesses, including EV-D68, increased since July. The disease has spread to Europe, according to a Russian website Today, enterovirus D68, first reported in California in 1962, was initially considered rare, but the number of cases has exploded since 2001.
According to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most EV-D68 cases have no symptoms. Or only mild symptoms, such as pain, cough, and runny nose. report a fever However, in about half of the cases, and in rare cases, the virus is thought to affect the spinal cord,
This causes muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis, a condition called acute flaccid myelitis. Although it is believed that there are various other causes of this condition, 90% of known cases are observed in young children.
The CDC explains that enterovirus D68 is spread when children are infected. Cough An infected person sneezes or touches a surface he is using others after. They added: "In general, infants, children and adolescents are most at risk of contracting enteroviruses and diseases. This is because they do not yet have immunity to previous exposure to these viruses.
Adults can be infected with enteroviruses, but they may have no or mild symptoms (CDC) Physicians in the United States are considering EV-D68 as a possible cause of severe acute respiratory illness in any child, with or without fever. Meanwhile, the public is encouraged to take basic precautions against EV-D68 and other respiratory viruses.
This includes washing hands regularly, covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue, avoiding Stay in close contact with sick people and stay home if you feel unwell. There is currently no vaccine available to prevent infection with EV-D68.
However, timely Covid-19 booster and flu shots can help prevent complications of viral illness. Experts added that children with severe symptoms such as shortness of breath and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention as soon as possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns However, the CDC recommends that children with asthma are more likely to develop severe disease when infected with enterovirus D68. Tracking the spread of EV-D68 is difficult because most hospitals and doctor's offices in the United States do not diagnose a specific type of enterovirus.
About Disease (CDC) U.S. health care providers remain vigilant and report potential cases of acute flaccid myelitis to state or local health departments. While historical cases of EV-D68 are largely limited to the United States, outbreaks have been known on the other hand. Authorities clarify United Kingdom: In August 2014, the United States and Canada reported an increase in EV-D68 detection rates associated with cases of acute respiratory disease and cases of unexplained neurological disease.
In response, the UK and Europe stepped up surveillance of EV-D68 and in 2014 and 2015; 56 and 14 cases were detected, respectively They added that in 2018, 68 laboratory-confirmed cases of EV-D68 were diagnosed by national reference laboratories in England and Wales.
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