BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com/AP) - State health officials say a case of an unusual respiratory virus affecting children around the country has been confirmed in an 8-year-old southeastern Massachusetts girl.
Department of Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett said Tuesday the girl has a history of asthma. She was hospitalized and has recovered. Boston Children's Hospital said the child was treated there.
"She did well, I just spoke to her mother who reported that she's doing wonderfully well at home," Dr. Michael Agus said.
In the last 11 days, Children's Hospital has sent 14 samples to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to be tested. Of those samples, 11 results have come back.
Ten of those results came back positive for rhinovirus/enterovirus and require further testing by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to look for the specific D68 strain. One result came back negative.
Of the positive samples sent to the CDC, one came back positive for the D68 strain, and Children's is awaiting to hear back about the other nine samples. The CDC says that from mid-August through Monday there have been 175 lab-confirmed cases of enterovirus D68 in 27 states, not including Massachusetts.
State officials said more respiratory virus test samples from Massachusetts are undergoing testing by the CDC to see if they are the D68 strain.
The virus, which is a mild to severe respiratory illness, can be worse for children and adults with respiratory issues like asthma. Mild symptoms may include fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough, and body and muscle aches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of the recently reported severe cases included children who had difficulty breathing, and some had wheezing symptoms.
In order to prevent exposure, the CDC recommends normal measures such as frequent hand washing.
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