From Kansas City Childrens Hospital. Weve been seeing this in Omaha too. Childrens Mercy is experiencing an unusually high census for August (increase in hospital admissions and emergency room visits) related to a summer rhinovirus/enterovirus infection outbreak. Strains are currently being sub-typed. Most children complain of difficulty breathing, have respiratory distress, do not wheeze, but appear to respond to asthma medication (many requiring continuous albuterol plus additional asthma interventions). Only half appear to have a history of underlying asthma. A number of patients have required care in the PICU. Weve queried other children’s hospitals around the country and many are currently experiencing a similar scenario. We have developed a case definition which will be a trigger for practitioners here to order respiratory viral panel testing and to implement contact/droplet isolation precautions along with other care as appropriate (case definition: patient ADMITTED with cough or difficulty breathing, with or without fever, and who requires supplemental oxygen and/or aerosolized albuterol). We wanted you to be aware of this pattern of summer illness and the potential impact on older children. While human rhinovirus/enterovirus has been associated with acute asthma exacerbations, bronchiolitis and viral pneumonia, most outbreaks are generally in the winter months and the clinical burden is mainly in infants. Childrens Mercy Kansas City 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 64108
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 13:15:23 +0000
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