MHSC
Senior Moderator
US enterovirus D68 cases top 200 in 31 states and DC
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/news-scan-sep-24-2014
Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been confirmed in 220 patients in 31 states and the District of Columbia, up 45 cases and 5 states in the past 2 days, according to an update today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, Rhode Island confirmed the first reported US case this year in an adult.
The five newly affected states are Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Utah. The CDC said that all but one illness have been in children. Today the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDH) said in a news release that the adult with EV-D68 was recently hospitalized but has since improved and been discharged.
The virus, which was fairly rare in the United States until now, causes cold-like symptoms but can lead to serious breathing difficulty, especially in children who have asthma, the CDC said. Infants, children, and teenagers are most at risk for symptomatic infections.
The CDC first highlighted the outbreak on Sep 8 after investigating clusters of hospitalized kids in Chicago and Kansas City, Mo. The agency said the primary reason for increases in cases is that several states are investigating clusters of patients who have severe respiratory disease and that testing for EV-D68 is complex and slow and can only be done by the CDC and a "small number" of state public health labs.
"As the backlog of specimens is processed, the number of states and confirmed cases will likely increase," the CDC said. "These increases will not necessarily reflect changes in real time, or mean that the situation is getting worse."
Some increases will be from new EV-D68 infections, though, because we are in the middle of the enterovirus season, the agency said.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/news-scan-sep-24-2014
Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been confirmed in 220 patients in 31 states and the District of Columbia, up 45 cases and 5 states in the past 2 days, according to an update today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, Rhode Island confirmed the first reported US case this year in an adult.
The five newly affected states are Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Utah. The CDC said that all but one illness have been in children. Today the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDH) said in a news release that the adult with EV-D68 was recently hospitalized but has since improved and been discharged.
The virus, which was fairly rare in the United States until now, causes cold-like symptoms but can lead to serious breathing difficulty, especially in children who have asthma, the CDC said. Infants, children, and teenagers are most at risk for symptomatic infections.
The CDC first highlighted the outbreak on Sep 8 after investigating clusters of hospitalized kids in Chicago and Kansas City, Mo. The agency said the primary reason for increases in cases is that several states are investigating clusters of patients who have severe respiratory disease and that testing for EV-D68 is complex and slow and can only be done by the CDC and a "small number" of state public health labs.
"As the backlog of specimens is processed, the number of states and confirmed cases will likely increase," the CDC said. "These increases will not necessarily reflect changes in real time, or mean that the situation is getting worse."
Some increases will be from new EV-D68 infections, though, because we are in the middle of the enterovirus season, the agency said.