Enterovirus D68:The Stealthy Child-Killer…(Came Across The Border!!)

Friday, October 10, 2014
By Paul Martin

By Michelle Fay Cortez
Bloomberg.com
Oct 10, 2014

Americans are primed to fear the flu, and concerns about Ebola have consumers snapping up hand gels and face masks. U.S. health officials, however, are no less worried about a different virus, a stealthy, erratic child-killer that is poorly understood and can’t be reliably prevented or cured. Known as enterovirus D68, it has been found in five children who died suddenly, and researchers think it is responsible for leaving dozens of others paralyzed or gasping for breath as it rapidly spreads. Infectious disease experts are grappling with how to counsel frightened parents worried that every cold will turn deadly, while neurologists are looking for a way to identify and treat those most likely to develop severe complications.

The Situation

Enterovirus D68, or EV-D68, has been confirmed in 628 people across 44 states as of Oct. 8, less than two months after it mysteriously reemerged in the Midwest. The five dead children include a 4-year-old New Jersey boy who showed no sign of serious illness before he passed away in the night. A 10-year-old girl from Rhode Island who developed a bacterial infection and had EV-D68 in late September was the first reported death. She died within 24 hours of reaching the hospital. The virus is suspected of playing a role in the paralysis that developed in dozens of other children in the past two months, leaving them wheelchair-bound or without the use of their arms. The enterovirus season typically runs from late summer through the fall, giving hope that the spread of the infection may taper off soon.

The Rest…HERE

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