As the school year begins, hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in pediatric admissions as children across the country are falling ill due to an as-yet unnamed respiratory illness. The illness appears to target the very young and children with asthma, and has symptoms similar to those of the common flu, only more severe.

1. Immediate care needed: The outbreak of rare
respiratory illness in children
Image Source: cnn.com
As the school year begins, hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in pediatric admissions as
children across the country are falling ill due to an as-yet unnamed respiratory illness. The
illness appears to target the very young and children with asthma, and has symptoms similar
to those of the common flu, only more severe.

2. Image Source: cnn.com
Experts suspect enterovirus D68, or EV-D68. Less than 100 cases of EV-D68 have been reported
in the United States since it was first identified in the 1960s. However, while the virus is
uncommon, it is usually not fatal. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing,
muscle pain, fever, and a runny nose.
In Missouri, more than 400 children were treated At Children’s Mercy Hospital for respiratory
illnesses, with 68 admitted into intensive care. Other areas are seeing an uptick in pediatric
admissions for respiratory illnesses as well: a hospital in Illinois banned visitors under 12 years
of age in an attempt to contain an outbreak, while in Denver, the Children’s Hospital Colorado
has so far treated more than 900 children for respiratory symptoms since the second week of
August. A hospital in East Columbus, Ohio, has also reported a 20 percent increase in
respiratory illness cases since the start of September. No deaths have been reported so far.