HealthDay News reports that enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) seems to be a more virulent pulmonary pathogen in children than rhinovirus or non-EV-D68 enterovirus, but it does not increase the risk of death, according to a study published October 13 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
Researchers from McMaster University in Canada evaluated consecutive children presenting to a pediatric hospital (Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, 2014) with positive nasopharyngeal swabs for rhinovirus or enterovirus that were sent automatically for EV-D68 testing. Outcomes and characteristics of patients with EV-D68 were compared with those with rhinovirus or non-EV-D68 enterovirus (87 matched pairs).
The researchers found that 93 of 297 samples tested positive for EV-D68. EV-D68 infection increased the likelihood of children having difficulty breathing (odds ratio [OR], 3). Admission to the critical care unit and death did not significantly differ between children with EV-D68 infection and those with other rhinovirus or enterovirus infections (adjusted OR, 1.47; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.61 to 3.52).
EV-D68 Increases Risk of Respiratory Distress, but not Mortality
