A yet unidentified respiratory illness has already caused over 1,000 children in up to 10 states across the country to become sick. The symptoms of this rare virus start out like the common cold, but children have been rushed to the hospital because they couldn't breathe.
Experts from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are saying that this could be because of the respiratory virus, human enterovirus 68, which is know to be related to the rhinovirus that is responsible for the common cold. Currently, there are already 10 states that are affected with this mystery illness and these are Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, and Georgia.
According to ABC's Chief Health and Medical Editor, Dr. Richard Besser, "viruses don't tend to respect borders. It is only in 10 states now, but it's going to be across the country. So if your state doesn't have it now, watch for it, it's coming." Doctors admitted that they still are not sure about how this virus is spreading, but they are certain that the classroom environment is one of the main reasons for the spread. Dr. Besser said, "This is a very common time for outbreaks. Kids come back to school, they like to share things, they bring them home to their little brothers and sisters, and enteroviruses tend to occur in the summer. But this one, this particular enterovirus 68, it's very rare and they have no idea why it showed up this year."
In Denver alone, officials from the Children's Hospital Colorado said that over 900 children were brought to the emergency room with symptoms of the respiratory virus between the dates of August 18 and September 4. 86 of those children were admitted, while a handful wound up in intensive care.