It’s not quite a new virus, but contaminations have been on the rise in the United States for some years now. In fact, the Los Angeles Times revealed Wednesday that, in a notice issued on Sept. 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last month an increase in the number of children hospitalized for a enterovirus D68, also called EV-D68. According to the US federal agency, EV-D68 cases in July and August were simultaneously higher than in the past three years.
First discovered in 1962 in California, this virus is transmitted through saliva and mucus. If it can take the form of a simple cold in adults, children are more prone to severe forms. The virus can indeed damage the spinal cord as well cause a condition known as acute flaccid myelitiswhich weakens the muscles and can sometimes cause paralysis.
Rare cases but on the rise
If for now no increase in acute flaccid myelitis cases o The related paralysis is to be deplored this year, the CDC warns that the rise in EV-D68 cases generally foreshadows an increase in acute flaccid myelitis cases. In fact, since 1987, only a small number of EV-D68 cases have been reported in the United States. But the increase in EV-D68 cases seen in 2014, 2016 and 2018 …
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