The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert to doctors and parents about a rare respiratory disease that is affecting children.
The virus, called Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), has similar symptoms to influenza or the common cold, health officials said last week.
Other health officials say that while enteroviruses are very common viruses that affect 10 to 15 million Americans per year, EV-D68 is “less common than other types of enterovirus.”
“Healthcare providers and hospitals in several regions of the United States notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during August 2022 about increases in pediatric hospitalizations in patients with severe respiratory illness who also tested positive for rhinovirus (RV) and/or enterovirus (EV) … upon further typing, some specimens have been positive for enterovirus D68 (EV-D68),” said the CDC on its website in a Sept. 9 alert….