SEATTLE — The respiratory virus that has been spreading across the nation, sickening children, has now been confirmed in Washington.
Two children — one each from Snohomish and King counties — tested positive for the enterovirus D68, health officials said during a news conference on Friday. No information was available on how long they were hospitalized. Both were discharged earlier this week.
Officials refused to disclose the ages of the children, citing privacy laws.
One hundred sixty cases of enterovirus D68 have now been confirmed in 22 states, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although more than 60 children have been admitted to Seattle Children’s Hospital since September with respiratory problems, only the two have been confirmed as having the virus. Twelve children whose tests have been processed did not have the disease.
Enterovirus D68 can hit children with breathing problems, such as asthma, unusually hard. The hospitalized patients range in age from infants to teenagers, said Dr. Danielle Zerr, who heads the pediatric infectious disease division of Seattle Children’s.
Samples from 28 of the children were sent to the CDC, and so far two of 14 tested samples have come back positive, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, an epidemiologist at the state Department of Health. The other 14 tests are pending, he said.
“This is the tip of the iceberg in detection,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, chief of communicable disease and epidemiology at Public Health/Seattle &King County. “If we find it locally, we expect it will be found in other counties in the state.”
Typically, the virus causes relatively mild, cold-like symptoms. But in children with lung ailments such as asthma, it can cause illness serious enough for them to be hospitalized, he said.
Some of the patients at Seattle Children’s have other types of respiratory viruses, which have begun circulating now that kids are back in school.
Currently, Seattle Children’s is treating five patients with severe respiratory problems in the intensive care unit.
“The bottom line is there is a variety of common respiratory viruses that can lead to complications in children with asthma,” Duchin said. “It’s important for parents to understand that children with asthma need to be watched closely.” Parents should also talk with their doctor to have an asthma control plan for their child, he said.
Symptoms of enterovirus D68 include fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough, body and muscle aches. More severe symptoms include difficulty breathing and wheezing. Doctors say parents should seek medical treatment for their kids if, in addition to cold-like symptoms, children have difficulty breathing or finishing their sentences.
In this current outbreak, enterovirus D68 first began sickening children in August, too recently to know how long it might linger, or how many children will be hospitalized, Duchin said. “We never know when a given virus will take off and peak,” he said.
Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, who monitors seasonal viruses at The Everett Clinic, said there’s been a big uptick in the number of patients coming to walk-in clinics over the past two weeks. But patients are being checked for a variety of illnesses, not just upper-respiratory symptoms, he said.
So far, enterovirus D68 seems to be causing serious medical problems in children and not in adults. “We are monitoring the situation closely,” Tu said.
It’s difficult to know how widespread the virus is locally, he said. “The only kids getting tested are those who are in the hospital and are pretty sick.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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