Twin Cities hospitals are seeing an increase in children with enterovirus infections.
This is a recent Warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionreported an increase in pediatric hospitalizations associated with enteroviruses and rhinoviruses.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was so scary,” said Alexa Brett of Circle Pines, whose son Easton recently fell ill.
Brett said five-month-old Easton had a runny nose and cough that he initially thought was an allergy or a cold.
“But then he nodded and looked very pale. He basically looked like he wasn’t alive. He wasn’t breathing,” Brett said.
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He was taken by ambulance to Ho Chi Minh City, Minneapolis, where he tested positive for enterovirus and rhinovirus and was hospitalized for 24 hours.
Dr. Stacene Maroushek, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Hennepin Healthcare, said:
She said children who arrive at the hospital with symptoms are swabbed for many viruses, including COVID-19, influenza and enterovirus/rhinovirus.
Maroushek said hundreds of children have tested positive for enterovirus in the past six weeks at Hennepin Healthcare.
According to the CDC, symptoms include fever, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, skin rashes, blisters in the mouth, and body and muscle aches.
As the number of children hospitalized increases, CDC is also reporting an increase in enterovirus D-68. Although this is rare, it can lead to serious side effects such as paralysis.
“A small subset of the children who get it have had permanent damage, but many recover,” Marousek said.
The median age for enterovirus D-68 is 3 years, according to the CDC, but it can affect children and teens of all ages.
“This is a warning to pediatricians to be vigilant,” said Dr. Gigi Chawla, director of general pediatrics at Children’s Minnesota.
Red flags include a bad cold that doesn’t get better, a fever that lasts more than three days, and extreme difficulty breathing, she said.
“If your child looks weak or has difficulty moving, or something more serious, you should see a doctor just in case,” Chawla said. rice field.
Brett said his son made a full recovery from the enterovirus in about a week.
“I am grateful and I hope he stays healthy. I wouldn’t want this on any family,” Brett said.
Although enteroviruses are on the rise overall, the Minnesota Department of Health told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Minnesota has had no confirmed cases of enterovirus D-68 so far this season. A spokesperson said, “This is an area we are actively monitoring, especially given the trends we are seeing nationwide.”
