The New Mexico Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to perform tests to determine if child hospitalized in Albuquerque is experiencing respiratory illness due to #Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). The Department of Health is coordinating with an Albuquerque hospital to send specimens from the case for testing by the CDC diagnostic laboratory in Atlanta. EV-D68 is the suspected cause of several outbreaks of respiratory illness impacting children in as many as twelve states as of today. Four of those states — Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Colorado — have confirmed cases. “Appropriate specimens are being collected to determine if Enterovirus D68 is the cause of illness in this child,” said Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Retta Ward. According to the CDC, many hospitals can test for enteroviruses, but are not able to perform enterovirus typing. As a result, state health departments and CDC work with health care providers to coordinate testing when appropriate. The CDC estimates that there are 10 to 15 million enterovirus infections each year in the United States. EV-D68, like other enteroviruses, appears to spread through close contact with infected people. There are no specific medicines to treat EV-D68 infections. For more information on Enterovirus D-68, visit cdc.gov/non-polio-enterovirus/about/EV-D68.html?s_cid=cdc_homepage_whatsnew_001 The Department will issue an update when it gets test results back from CDC. At this point, there is no estimated time frame for getting results back. # # #
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 23:20:43 +0000
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