Minnesota confirms EV-D68 in a child, becomes 18th state with confirmed cases
by Robert Herriman
OutbreakNewsToday.com
September 18, 2014
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has identified a case of respiratory illness due to Enterovirus D-68 (EV-D68) in a child who was hospitalized with acute respiratory symptoms. The child was released from a Twin Cities hospital and is now recovering at home.
The MDH Public Health Laboratory confirmed a case of EV-D68 Tuesday night in a specimen submitted by a hospital participating in Minnesota’s severe acute respiratory infections surveillance system. EV-D68 is the same strain of enterovirus that has been associated with recent increases in severe respiratory illnesses in children in a number of states and Canada. Often, but not always, these children have a history of asthma.
Over the past two weeks, through multiple surveillance systems, MDH has detected other types of enteroviruses, and other respiratory viruses including rhinovirus, adenovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The finding of EV-D68 confirms suspicions that EV-D68 is circulating in Minnesota and may be responsible for some of the recent increases in pediatric admissions for severe respiratory illnesses in several Minnesota hospitals.
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