CDC Warns About Enterovirus D68, the Virus Linked to Paralysis in Kids

Prevention –

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning about an increase of a respiratory illness that’s linked to paralysis in kids. It’s called enterovirus D68, and the CDC says it’s currently on the rise in the U.S. The CDC shared the news in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which points out that enterovirus D68 cases started to rise this summer after an “extended period” of a low number of cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report details how, in August, doctors in several areas of the country notified the CDC of an increase in hospitalizations of kids with “severe respiratory illness” and positive results for enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). This has led to “substantial resource demands” in some hospitals and have also “coincided” with increases in acute flaccid myelitis, an uncommon but serious neurologic condition that causes the muscles and reflexes in the body to become weak. Link to CDC MMWR Report