A respiratory virus that was first reported in a few Midwestern states in the country in August has spread widely and is threatening to become a national crisis.
The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that the Enterovirus68 (EV68) has been diagnosed in 594 people in about 43 states in the country, as well as in the District of Columbia. The organization revealed that "we are currently in the middle of enterovirus season" and many people are at risk of becoming infected.
The states where the infections have been recorded thus far are Alabama, California, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Delaware, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Massachussets, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming and Winconsin.
In September, a 4-years old boy in Hamilton, New Jersey, died from the virus after contacting it in the middle of the night. Reports indicate that he did not make it to the morning. But Missouri has been the worst affected with hundreds of children reportedly hospitalized.
Doctors across the country are frantically researching on the nature of EV68 and why it is spreading so quickly. Health experts say both children and adults with respiratory problems and immunosuppression stand a high risk of contacting the deadly virus. The symptoms of EV68 include cold, coughing, breathing difficulties and rash.
Although EV68 has been described as a 'summer virus', health experts have noted that it is quite rare for one of the common infections in the hot season to induce respiratory problems. EV68 is particularly rare; the virus was first diagnosed in the U.S. between 2009 and 2010. About 40 patients were diagnosed with the virus in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona in those years. It is unclear what precipitated the sudden outbreak this year.
Meanwhile the CDC has noted that the actual number of infected people could be much lower. The organization has revealed that "The primary reason for the increases in cases is that several states are investigating clusters of people with severe respiratory illness, and specimens are still being tested for EV-D68...These increases will not necessarily reflect changes in real time, or mean that the situation in getting worse."
Health experts say the best way to protect against an infection is to maintain high sanitary levels and avoid coming into contact with people who are suspected to be sick with EV68.
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