A recent increase in severe respiratory illnesses in children may be linked to enterovirus strains that can cause rare polio-like conditions. Health Network Alert Advisory It was announced Sept. 9 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In August, health care providers and hospitals notified the CDC of an increase in severe respiratory illness in children who also tested positive for rhinovirus (RV) or enterovirus (EV). It was revealed that children in the department were EV-D68 positive. EV-D68 primarily causes acute respiratory illness. However, the virus is associated with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a rare neurological condition with muscle weakness.
Also, in July and August 2022, surveillance networks reported an increase in EV-D68 activity compared to the same months in 2019, 2020 and 2021, officials said in a warning. As of August 30, the CDC has received no reports of AFM since this year. However, EV-D68 spikes usually precede AFM cases, they say.
“One thing we’re always on the lookout for in the late summer and fall is AFM cases,” said Rick Murray, M.D., of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital, in an interview. Medscape Medical News“Unfortunately, we expect them in enterovirus season,” he said. That season is thought to peak in late summer and early fall.
Since the CDC started Tracking AFM In August 2014, there were 692 confirmed cases in the United States. Cases of AFM he spiked in 2014, 2016 and 2018 and occurred mostly in young children. In 2021, 15 states will have 28 confirmed cases of her. The CDC did not specify the age of these cases, but the ages of children who visited the emergency department or were hospitalized with EV-D68-related respiratory illness in 2018, when EV-D68 was recently at high levels. median age was her 3 years. .
“[AFM] It’s very serious and very frightening for parents with children,” Malley said. enterovirus The community should include that it is a relatively rare event in susceptible individuals. ”
CDC recommends that donors consider EV-D68 to be the cause of acute, severe respiratory illness in children. If the cause of respiratory illness in a critically ill patient is not clear and this is not part of the typical diagnostic workflow, a medical professional should test him for RV and EV, the agency said. . There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment for RV or EV, and CDC recommends supportive clinical management.
The recommendation also urges health care providers to “strongly consider AFM in patients with acute flaccid limb weakness between August and November 2022, especially after respiratory illness or fever.” .
For patients with possible AFM, clinicians should collect samples from multiple sources, including cerebrospinal fluid, serum, stool, and nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swabs. Samples should be taken “as soon as possible, preferably on the day the limb begins to weaken,” the warning said. There are currently no specific drugs for AFM, although recommended interventions may vary from patient to patient.
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