WASHINGTON – The outbreak of a respiratory illness may have made ill up to 1,000 kids in a dozen states, the Center for Disease Control said Monday.
The problem originated around August 19, 2014, when the CDC was notified by Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, of an increase (relative to the same period in previous years) in patients examined and hospitalized with severe respiratory illness, including some admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. An increase also was noted in detections of rhinovirus/enterovirus in specimens obtained during August 5–19. On August 23, the CDC was notified by the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital in Illinois of an increase in patients similar to those seen in Kansas City.
Since these initial reports, admissions for severe respiratory illness have continued at both facilities at rates higher than expected for this time of year.
Investigations into suspected clusters in other jurisdictions are ongoing, the CDC said, with possible outbreaks in Colorado and Ohio being looked at.
Enteroviruses are associated with various clinical symptoms, including mild respiratory illness, febrile rash illness, and neurologic illness, such as aseptic meningitis and encephalitis. EV-D68, however, primarily causes respiratory illness, although the full spectrum of disease remains unclear.
Since the original isolation of EV-D68 in California in 1962, EV-D68 has been reported rarely in the United States; the National Enterovirus Surveillance System received 79 EV-D68 reports during 2009–2013. Small clusters of EV-D68 associated with respiratory illness were reported in the United States during 2009–2010.
There are no available vaccines or specific treatments for EV-D68, and clinical care is supportive. Health care providers should consider EV-D68 as a possible cause of acute, unexplained severe respiratory illness; suspected clusters or outbreaks should be reported to local or state health departments.
