Central Oklahoma Seeing Spike In Hospital Visits For Respiratory Illness

<p>An emergency room physician at The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center addressed the recent spike in respiratory illness in central Oklahoma children.</p>

Monday, September 8th 2014, 3:25 pm

By: Dee Duren

Central Oklahoma Seeing Spike In Hospital Visits For Respiratory Illness

The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center held a news conference Monday to discuss the recent spike in visits to emergency rooms and in hospitalizations involving children with serious or severe symptoms of respiratory viral illness in central Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is one of 10 states that have contacted the Centers for Disease Control for help investigating the spike in illness which is believed to be caused by an enterovirus, according to the OU Medical Center Emergency Department.

Enteroviruses are very common and usually just have the relatively mild symptoms of the common cold, but a strain called Enterovirus D-68 has been hitting some children hard over the last few weeks in Colorado, Missouri and Kansas. Those children are having such difficulty breathing that some have required admission to intensive care.

Learn More About Enterovirus

The OU Medical Center believes EV-D-68 is responsible for the cases it is seeing, but the strain of virus has not yet been positively identified as EV-D-68.

"We have had an increased number of patients coming through the emergency department since it was first identified in the midwest, and a lot of these are believed to be due to the enterovirus," OU Medical Center physician Dr. Curtis Knoles said in the news conference.

Knoles said the enterovirus doctors are currently seeing at the hospital appears to be causing more upper respiratory symptoms and wheezing than other types. Children are breathing fast and working hard to breathe, having audible sound while breathing in and out. Children who have underlying health illness like cerebral palsy and asthma will be particularly susceptible, he said.

9/7/2014 Related Story: Serious Respiratory Virus Infecting Kids Across Midwest

Experts at the Oklahoma State Department of Health agree there has been an increase in hospital visits for children with respiratory illness in some areas of the state.

"Only hospitals in the central region of the state are reporting approximately a two-fold increase in number of children being admitted with respiratory disease that often mimics severe asthma-like illness," said State Epidemiologist Kristy Bradley, DVM, MPH.

Bradley said samples from affected children have been forward to the CDC in Atlanta for typing and confirmation.

"Although we suspect that the Enterovirus D-68 strain is associated with this increase in pediatric hospital admissions, we cannot confirm the circulation of Enterovirus D-68 in Oklahoma until the laboratory test results form the CDC are received," she said.

Knoles said that prevention is the best way to deal with the virus - using good handwashing, disinfecting solid surfaces, avoiding contact with people that are including not drinking after them or hugging them. He also advised keeping kids home from school if they show symptoms.

They are seeing the most severe symptoms in kids age 5 and younger. Older children and adults can also have enterovirus, but the older you are, the less your breathing seems to be affected, he said.

There is no treatment available for D-68 and no vaccines. The virus can only be dealt with by supportive care. But, according to Knoles, with the right care and proper identification, the body will heal itself in time.