BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Enterovirus D-68 is such a mysterious respiratory illness that it often appears to be asthma. In both cases, kids wheeze and have shortness of breath.
State health officials last week confirmed four children from San Diego and Ventura counties have tested positive for Enterovirus D-68. No cases in Kern have been reported so far.
But in Kern County, where asthma rates are high, there is growing concern among parents about how to tell the difference between D-68 and asthma. Any child can catch the virus as it is spread by a simple cough, but those children with asthma suffer more from the illness.
"In most of the cases that have happened across the United States, most of the children who have had to be hospitalized are those who already have a past history of asthma," said Dr. Kimberlee Fong, infectious disease physician at kaiser permanente. "So they already have respiratory problems to begin with because of the asthma and then they get hit with this enterovirus d-68 and it just exacerbates their breathing symptoms."
When the inhaler isn't working and symptoms aren't getting better, there's only one sure way to tell if a child has contracted D-68, according to Fong.
"If you suspect that your child is having respiratory difficulty, definitely bring them to the hospital or to your physician's office. The only way to tell the difference is if you actually have specific testing for Enterovirus D-68," said Fong.
There is no vaccine for the virus, but parents can do a couple things to reduce risk.
"With all respiratory viruses we always talk about good hand hygiene...so that talks about washing your hands, staying away from people you know who are sick because you don't want to catch the disease, and also just kind of wiping down the surfaces with those bleach wipes if you have been around someone sick," said Fong.
Fong said there are two main reasons why children are most at risk for the virus. First, the disease has been around since the 1960s and was actually first discovered in California. Therefore kids may not have developed immunity to the virus like adults.
Also, kids put so many things in their mouth and are around so many other children at school that it makes it easier for them to acquire the virus.
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