Paralyzed Canadian and US Children Are Testing Positive for Enterovirus D68
According to the CDC, samples collected from four patients who recently died have tested positive for enterovirus D68.
10 year-old Emily Otrando died last week of a staph infection associated with enterovirus D68. (Turn to 10)
The enterovirus D68 is now being linked to paralysis in children. Health authorities in British Columbia are trying to determine if a man and boy with enterovirus D68 developed paralysis-like symptoms because of the infections. In Denver they were seeing nine cases [with neurological symptoms] over the course of about a week. So far the children are not getting better.
One paralyzed child in Michigan tested positive for EV D68.
Click on Detroit reported:
The CDC has confirmed that a paralyzed child at University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor has tested positive for enterovirus D68.
The case is one of 25 in Michigan.
Doctors have noticed that several other children with limb weakness and paralysis have also tested positive for the virus, but the CDC is still working to determine a direct link.
The CDC says the virus has been confirmed in 472 people in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
The virus can cause mild to severe illness, with the worst cases needing life support for breathing difficulties. The strain isn’t new but it’s rarely seen.
