Jim Feuer, spokesman for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, said it’s been an increasingly busy time at Cincinnati Children’s for respiratory viruses.
The Cincinnati hospital on Friday was at its highest level ever for inpatient volumes at 540 patients, Feuer said. On average the hospital has about 430 inpatients.
“That’s far above our previous high and it’s a variety of respiratory viruses,” Feuer said, including asthma and rhinovirus. “It’s clear the reason for the uptick is we’re seeing more respiratory viruses than we typically see. The kind of illnesses you see in winter.”
Since Aug. 1, Dayton Children’s Hospital has treated 300 children with confirmed rhinovirus infections — about triple the number of rhinovirus cases reported during the same period last year, said Beth Linegang, an infection preventionist at the hospital.
“We see rhinovirus about this time every year, but not to this extent,” Linegang said, adding that she thinks many of the recent cases will be identified as enterovirus D68.
But hospital officials won’t know for sure until specimens are sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.
Ohio is one of 10 states that the CDC has asked to help identify the virus because of the dramatic spike in the number of patients with respiratory illnesses. The other states working with the CDC are Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
“We have no confirmed cases yet, but we are working with local health departments who are working with their local hospitals to start sending in samples to our lab that will go to CDC,” said Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department.
So far, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland are the only children’s hospitals in Ohio to have contacted the state health department about providing specimens, Amato said.
“We hope to have results by the end of the week, and we won’t be surprised if the results test positive (for enterovirus D68),” she said.
Amato said the enterovirus was first identified decades ago, and health officials have no idea why it may have re-emerged with such vengeance.
“It’s been around since the late 60s, but for some reason it’s increasing in our area this year,” she said.
Despite the magnitude and scope of the infections, Amato said most people have no reason to be overly concerned, despite reports that the disease is potentially deadly.
“Any virus can lead to death, especially if the person has other symptoms or other illnesses,” she said. “So you can never rule that out. But it’s highly unlikely.”
Health officials advise parents and their children to follow common-sense procedures to reduce the risk of infection, such as washing hands often with soap and hot water, avoiding close contact with others, and disinfecting frequently-touched surfaces, such as toys and table tops.
Feuer said the increase in respiratory viruses could be due in part to back-to-school season or the high humidity in recent weeks that’s exacerbated asthma conditions.
Feuer said if parents or guardians are concerned about their children, first call their pediatrician or primary care doctor before coming into the emergency department. He said it’s also wise to practice safe hand-washing techniques and have inhalers nearby for asthma sufferers.
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