Public health officials in Washington King County are now looking into the cases of severe respiratory illnesses at the Seattle Children's Hospital and finding out whether these are related to an illness that has sickened hundreds of other children nationwide. Health officials in the County are now making use of a testing method from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that, they say, will be able to confirm if the cases are from enterovirus 68, the same virus that has been implicated in the hospitalization of over 1,000 children in 10 other states across the country.
So far, the Department of Health says that there have been 15 cases identified in King County involving children between six months to 14 years old. The children, who were from different parts of the state including Yakima, Grant County, Wenatchee, Snohomish County and King County, were brought to the Seattle hospital complaining of respiratory difficulty. Most of the patients have existing underlying health problems such as asthma, which researchers previously identified as an aggravating factor to enterovirus 68. Five of the patients have already required intensive care.
Chief of Communicable Diseases for Public Health in Seattle and King County, Dr. Jeff Duchin, said that, "Although we can't currently say that these cases are definitely due to EV-D68, it would not be surprising if the virus is confirmed on further testing." Currently, there have been no confirmed cases of the Andro virus within the state of Washington, but health officials are standing by and expecting the results of the tests from the CDC early next week.
Enterovirus 68 is a rare strain from the enterovirus family that is responsible for symptoms of the common cold. These viruses typically hit throughout the summer and fall months and are usually easily managed with cold medication. With the EV-D68, children may become sick for about a week and doctors are saying that recovery will not result in any long-lasting problems. However, children with asthma have a higher risk of developing a more serious condition because of their already compromised respiratory functions.