Respiratory Illness Sickens Hundreds of Children in Colorado

By Steven Hogg - 08 Sep '14 03:45AM

A respiratory illness is sending hundreds of children to hospitals in Colorado. The disease is also reported in many other parts of the United States.

Officials believe that the sickness is caused by a rare respiratory virus called human enterovirus 68 (HEV68).

The HEV68 was first reported in California in 1962. The virus is related to the rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Patients with symptoms akin to the ones in Colorado are coming to hospitals across the United States, said Mark Pallansch, director of the Division of Viral Diseases at the CDC. Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia are some of the states that have reported outbreaks of the human enterovirus 68 and requested the help of CDC, reports ABC News.

Doctors at the Children's hospital in Colorado have treated more than 900 children with symptoms of the virus in the period between August 18 and September 4, according to hospital officials. Eighty six children were admitted to the hospital and a small number of them were sent to the intensive care unit.

The sickness symptoms are very similar to an attack of severe cold. However, it can be dangerous for asthmatic children as it affects the respiratory system, said Dr. Christine Nyquist, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital Colorado.

"The kids are coming in with respiratory symptoms, their asthma is exacerbated," Nyquist said. "Kids with no wheezing are having wheezing," she said, reports ABC News.

Around 475 children were treated in recent times at the Children Mercy hospital in Kansas City.

Among them, nearly 60 children received intensive care, said hospital spokesman Jake Jacobson, reports CNN.

There is no vaccine available in preventing HEV68 infection.

Though it may prove fatal in some cases, till date no cases of death have been reported in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.