The New Outbreak of Respiratory Illness

Today, there is a new outbreak of respiratory illness spreads between Midwest and 38 states in the United States, because it was already reported several cases. In the article “Outbreak of a Respiratory Illness Escalates Among Children and Mystifies Scientists” by Catherine Saint Louis, it’s clear these informations and explain the infection source by enterovirus D68. Besides, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 226 cases of infection with enterovirus 68, one case involved an adult and no deaths have been linked to the infection. “Parents would love to know why this virus is causing severe disease and why there are more cases,” said Rafal Tokarz, an associate research scientist at Columbia University who has studied the virus, “but we won’t be able to answer that until a lot more research is done.” Thus, this actual problem is scary, so it’s important to know more about the symptoms, the risks and the preventions. The symptoms can be divided in mild, like fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough, and body and muscle aches, also severe that can be divided in wheezing and difficulty breathing. The risks are because children and teenagers don’t have yet immunity from previous exposures to these viruses. Therefore, the main way to avoid is through prevention, so there isn’t still vaccine, that’s why it’s fundamental to wash hands often with soap and water, avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; avoid kissing, hugging, and sharing eating utensils with people who are sick.

Source: <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/health/outbreak-of-a-respiratory-illness-escalates-among-children.html?ref=health&_r=0>