CDC reports increase in pediatric hospitalizations for severe respiratory illness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today alerted health care providers to an increase in pediatric hospitalizations for severe respiratory illness in patients who tested positive for rhinovirus and/or enterovirus, including enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). EV-D68 has been associated with acute flaccid myelitis, a rare but serious neurologic complication involving limb weakness. EV-D68 caused a nationwide outbreak of severe respiratory illness in 2014, which has been followed by increased activity every other fall. The advisory includes recommendations for testing and treating children with severe respiratory illnesses.