Going Viral

“Has Judgement Of God Hit Japan” 340,000 Cases Of Flu

Enterovirus D68 cases double in one week

The number of confirmed enterovirus D68 cases in the province has more than doubled in the past week, according to new figures from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

As of Oct. 30, the B.C. provincial laboratory has confirmed 119 cases of enterovirus D68, compared to 56 confirmed cases a week ago, the health agency reported in its weekly provincial flu surveillance bulletin.

The increase in confirmed cases comes in the wake of the death two weeks ago of a Lower Mainland man in his early 20s who contracted the illness.

At the time, Dr. Danuta Skowronski, lead epidemiologist for the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, told reporters she expected to see an increase in confirmed cases in the coming weeks as flu season gets underway.

However, she said the number of cases is expected to decrease as temperatures drop.

“Enteroviruses like the summer and fall,” she said. “As we get deeper into the fall, we ought to see some natural fade out of enteroviruses. The winter is not their preferred seasonality.”

The age range of patients infected with the virus range from less than one-year-old to over 80, with 73 of the confirmed cases in children up to the age of nine.

Another 15 confirmed cases are in youth between 10 and 14, and five are between 15 and 19. Twenty-six of the confirmed cases are in adults older than 20.

The cases come from all health authorities in the province, and the majority of cases — 58 per cent — are male, the reasons for which are unclear.

Another three patients with confirmed enterovirus D68 have also developed symptoms of paralysis, but doctors aren’t sure to what extent the virus is responsible for the symptoms.

Enterovirus D68 is a rare but known virus that can cause severe breathing problems in children, especially those with asthma.

Most people who become infected enterovirus D68 will experience symptoms no worse than a mild cold, but people of any age with underlying respiratory conditions like asthma are at risk of complications from the illness.

Since mid-August, an outbreak of the virus in North America has sent a rash of children and young people to hospital.

As of Oct. 31, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,105 people in 47 states with laboratory-confirmed enterovirus D68 in the U.S.

Skowronski urged people with asthma or other underlying respiratory conditions to seek medical care if they experience shortness of breath.

“You won’t know if you have D68,” she said. “But generally, people with asthma, when they have respiratory viruses that can trigger an exacerbation, it sometimes requires urgent care to recover from that.”

FEAR OF ENTEROVIRUS D68 GROWING AS KIDS BECOME PARALYZED, DIE FROM ILLNESS

by WARNER TODD HUSTON 8 Oct 2014 195POST A COMMENT

What Is Enterovirus D68 and What Can You Do About It?

Bloomberg

Parents across the country are experiencing a new level of fear for the health of their children as Enterovirus D68, the so-called “Mystery Illness,” spreads causing paralysis and even death in kids.

The “Mystery Illness” has sent hundreds of children to hospitals from coast to coast, spreading to nearly every state and identified as the cause for at least four deaths. Some researchers are already calling this outbreak the Polio for our era.

The Centers for Disease Control have identified 594 cases in 43 states and the District of Columbia since August, but authorities say there are likely many more cases that have not been diagnosed. The virus is especially sneaky because it presents as a cold or the flu.

But the worst cases develop from a mere runny nose or aches and pains to serious headaches, neck pain, respiratory difficulties and then paralysis in some.

Most alarming to parents is the fact that doctors have no idea why Enterovirus 68 causes paralysis and have no idea how to stop it from doing so.

After reaching out to CNN’s audience via social media, the network’s digital correspondent found that parents across the country are very worried.

“I am way more interested and worried about enterovirus than Ebola,” said Cecily Kellogg of the blog Upperclasswoman.com.

But many doctors are quick to allay fears, saying that the regular, everyday flu is worse than Enterovirus.

“Flu kills several hundred children in an average year,” said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases and epidemiologist for Primary Children’s Hospital. “This is dramatically more than the impact of EV-D68, but we are familiar with flu, while EV-D68 is something that seems new and noteworthy.”

Pavia went on to tell CNN that the best prevention is to make sure kids wash their hands “frequently and carefully” after eating, using the bathroom, and coming in contact with people who may be experiencing flu-like systems.

Dr. Pavia also warned that hand sanitizers may not be strong enough to kill the virus. “Doing something to wash your hands is better than doing nothing,” he said.

One issue about this virus, though, seems to be left out of the investigation: where it is coming from.

Viruses like this are much more common in Central and South America, and by some accounts it seems likely that the tens of thousands of illegal aliens that swamped our southern border may have brought the virus with them. A study in the Virology Journal in 2013 found a connection between Enterovirus and Latin America.

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, has also raised the question.

On September 17, Dr. Orient said:

We don’t know where it’s coming from… Are there immigrants from Central America, where this disease has allegedly been prevalent before? Should we be [looking at] the virus to see whether it’s like what’s been found in some of these countries that are just sending waves of children across our border and they haven’t been quarantined long enough to make sure they’re not sick?

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Enterovirus D68, the respiratory illness suspected of hospitalizing hundreds of children in the nation, has now spread to the Northeast and is likely to hit the whole country.

Connecticut and New York are the latest states to report cases of the rapidly spreading virus that has targeted young children, especially those withasthma, in 21 states.

The Connecticut Department of Public Healthreceived reports “from two hospitals in different parts of the state of clusters of severe respiratory illness among young children that could be due to enterovirus D68,” the agency said in a statement.

Connecticut is working with the Centers for Disease Control to confirm the cases.

The New York State Department of Health has also confirmed more than a dozen cases of enterovirus D68 in children living in the state’s capital and central regions, officials said.

The CDC has not confirmed New York’s cases.

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As of Saturday, enterovirus D68 had spread to 21 states across the Midwest and East Coast, with confirmed cases spanning from New Mexico to Montana to Delaware.

The virus is likely to spread across the country, ABC News’ Dr. Richard Besser said Sunday morning.

“It’s very hard for a virus to be limited by borders,” Besser said. “I expect that it’s going to hit the whole country.”

Enterovirus D68 comes from a family of enteroviruses that can cause cold-like symptoms, typically during the month of September.

Besser warned parents to watch out for symptoms of coughs and wheezing among their children, especially if their children are asthmatic.

“The best approach for prevention is what we talk about all the time for respiratory infections, colds, and flus and that’s really good hand washing,” Besser said.

There have been no reported cases of adults contracting the virus.

Adults may already have built an immunity towards the virus from previous infections, or may just get a milder version of the disease, Besser said.

Children who contract enterovirus D68 first suffer from what appears to be a common cold, with symptoms including a runny nose, coughing, and sneezing, according to Besser.

The symptoms then escalate to difficulty breathing. Besser said parents should look out for their children exhibiting signs of wheezing, difficulty eating or speaking, and blueness around the lips.

Doctors have found a way to treat the symptoms, helping kids breath more easily so they can get through the virus, Besser said.

“It’s the same medicine that’s used for children who have asthma,” he said. “But when I was in the emergency room this week in St. Louis, they were giving it to children who didn’t have asthma, and you could just see them turn around. Their airways would open up — some of them could leave the emergency room. Some had to stay, but the medicine helps a lot.”

Hand, foot and mouth disease spreading through central Indiana kids

By Lindy Thackston

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 14, 2014) — Pediatricians say a highly-contagious virus is spreading like wildfire through central Indiana kids.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is common this time of year, but doctors say they’ve been swamped this week and want to warn parents it’s making the rounds.

Children six months to 5 years old are at the highest risk, says St. Vincent pediatrician Brian Aguilar.

It usually starts with a fever before blisters appear in the mouth and a rash develops on the hands and feet. But this year, Aguilar says he’s seeing several kids without fevers and just suffering from blisters and a rash.

It typically lasts three to five days, but the rash can last longer.

It’s very contagious and easily spreads through coughing, sneezing, changing diapers and toys.

Westfield mom Dena Parker has her 2-year-old daughter home from daycare this week after she was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease.

“If you work full-time and your husband works full-time and daycare is where your child has to go, you’re more than likely going to be affected with hand, foot and mouth sometime in the course of being at daycare,” said Powell. “And I spoke to a friend who is a stay-at-home mom and her son had it a couple of weeks ago and he does not attend daycare.”

Aguilar says while the virus is commonly spread at daycare, other kids are at risk too, especially at playgrounds and pools.

“The most important thing in hand, foot and mouth disease prevention is washing hands,” said Aguilar. “The time that you should call your doctor is if your child can’t eat or drink well.”

“Everybody can get the virus, even adults, but we won’t show the symptoms, so everybody needs to practice good hand hygiene.”

There is no vaccine to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease.

There is no specific treatment, but if the sores are preventing the child from eating and drinking, medicine can be prescribed. If your child is eating and drinking with no problem, Aguilar says Tylenol and ibuprofen can be used.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a threat through the fall season.

Aguilar also wants to point out that hand, foot and mouth disease has nothing to do with the hoof and mouth disease that affects animals.

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