SickKids testing 3 patients for enterovirus D68
Posted October 3, 2014 2:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children is testing three children for enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), the strain that caused polio-like symptoms in patients in Hamilton and British Columbia.
The hospital said the children had muscle weakness, followed by respiratory illness, and test results will be back early next week.
At McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, four children recently showed neurological symptoms, including muscle weakness, and so far one has tested positive for EV-D68.
“Sudden onset of muscle weakness or partial paralysis is very rare in children and, whenever those symptoms appear, it’s important to seek immediate medical care,” pediatric neurology head Dr. Brandon Meaney said in a statement on Thursday.
“This is not common fatigue or body ache that we’re referring to. It’s much more serious than that. If your child is not able to walk, has trouble moving his or her limbs, or has problems breathing, take them to a doctor right away.”
The Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program has identified 139 cases of EV-D68 in the Hamilton area over the past five weeks and says it is starting to see fewer cases.
“What’s encouraging is that we continue to see a decrease,” said the lab’s virology head Dr. Marek Smieja.
“That shows that EV-D68 is now past its peak and on the decline.”
There have been dozens of confirmed cases of EV-D68 in western and central Canada, which usually causes only mild cold-like symptoms such as fever and runny nose.
A small number of infected children have developed polio-like symptoms, including one in Hamilton and two in B.C.
In mid-August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started to see clusters of children with severe respiratory illness in Missouri and Illinois and said as of Thursday, 514 people in 43 states and the District of Columbia had tested positive for EV-D68.
Four American children who had the virus have died, but it’s not clear if other illnesses were the cause.
Children and teens may have a higher risk of infection because it’s their first exposure to the virus.
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With files from The Canadian Press
