Enterovirus May Have Peaked

Enterovirus-D68 could soon be in the rearview mirror, according to a Hartford, CT, pediatric intensivist who has treated more than 20 children hospitalized with the infection.

“We may have plateaued,” said Christopher Carroll, MD, an asthma specialist at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. While children are still being admitted for respiratory problems, “Now it’s more a mix of symptoms, not those of classic enterovirus.”

Though he could not say for certain the outbreak has peaked, he did say that “things are not continuing to get worse.”

It is also far from clear how extensive the outbreaks are, since testing for EV-D68 is not mandatory. So many states are sending their specimens to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the facility has a mounting backlog. Carroll said the CDC has asked the hospital to stop.

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