Oklahoma and nine other states have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help figure out what's causing a recent spike in emergency room visits due to a severe respiratory illness in children.
Public health officials suspect it may be caused by enterovirus D-68, an uncommon strain of a family of viruses that typically hit from summertime through the fall.
The Children's Hospital at the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City said Monday 115 patients tested positive for rhinovirus or enterovirus between August 1 and August 28, compared to 75 last year.
Emergency room physician Curtis Knowles says so far there haven't been any confirmed cases of EV D68 in Oklahoma, but testing takes time.
"The further identification into whether it's enterovirus D-68, or if it's just another one of the subtypes has to be done through the state Department of Health in conjunction with the Center [sic] for Disease Control," Knowles says.
The virus typically causes illness lasting about a week and most children recover with no lasting problems. Children with asthma and other health problems are especially at risk. So far no deaths have been reported in the outbreak.
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