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Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ewborns-doctors-warn-summer-illness-rcna92382
WHO report on deadly virus among babies in 3 countries has U.S. doctors on edge
Infectious disease experts report a slight rise in enterovirus infections among newborns in the U.S. They urged pediatricians and families to watch for rare side effects.
July 6, 2023, 6:30 AM EDT
By Erika Edwards
Reports of more than a dozen cases of dangerous and often deadly viral sepsis in babies in Europe — along with increasing circulation of similar viruses that typically spike in the summer and early fall — have pediatric infectious diseases experts in the U.S. on edge.
"We are all on pins and needles here in the States," said Dr. David Kimberlin, a co-director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Enteroviruses can severely affect newborns, whose immune systems aren't mature enough to fight off infection.
"Most enteroviruses cause a very mild disease in the children that they infect," Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, said in a briefing Wednesday. "But in a small proportion, we see a much more significant, catastrophic disease."
In May, the WHO called attention to a cluster of a particular type of enterovirus, called echovirus-11. Nine babies in France within their first month of life had been infected and developed organ failure and sepsis. Seven died...
WHO report on deadly virus among babies in 3 countries has U.S. doctors on edge
Infectious disease experts report a slight rise in enterovirus infections among newborns in the U.S. They urged pediatricians and families to watch for rare side effects.
July 6, 2023, 6:30 AM EDT
By Erika Edwards
Reports of more than a dozen cases of dangerous and often deadly viral sepsis in babies in Europe — along with increasing circulation of similar viruses that typically spike in the summer and early fall — have pediatric infectious diseases experts in the U.S. on edge.
"We are all on pins and needles here in the States," said Dr. David Kimberlin, a co-director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Enteroviruses can severely affect newborns, whose immune systems aren't mature enough to fight off infection.
"Most enteroviruses cause a very mild disease in the children that they infect," Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, said in a briefing Wednesday. "But in a small proportion, we see a much more significant, catastrophic disease."
In May, the WHO called attention to a cluster of a particular type of enterovirus, called echovirus-11. Nine babies in France within their first month of life had been infected and developed organ failure and sepsis. Seven died...