Sep 17, 2014 3 min read

There’s no reason to be alarmed, but it’s more than likely that enterovirus EV-D68 will eventually make its way to our region, said Dr. Brian Popko, the medical director of the emergency department at Canonsburg Hospital.

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced three confirmed cases of EV-D68, all from a Philadelphia hospital. A fourth case at the same site also was confirmed, but a spokeswoman for the department said the patient was not a Pennsylvania resident. While the enterovirus has the potential to cause serious complications, like the swelling of the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord, and the swelling of the brain, itself, most people will get only a “bad cold,” Popko said. “There’s no real prevention,” he said. “The virus is really hitting children under 5 and children with asthma. If their breathing is out of the ordinary, bring them to the emergency room.”

Kathy Liberatore, the manager of infection control at Monongahela Valley Hospital, said EV-D68 is “really more of a summer illness.”

“I wouldn’t expect it to continue on after the season,” she said. “We are about two weeks out from flu season. This just needs to run its course.”

Both Liberatore and Popko said EV-D68 is a strain of a “pretty common virus.” According to the state Department of Health, “Enteroviruses are very common respiratory illnesses with more than 100 types resulting in between 10 (million) to 15 million cases occurring in the United States each year.” EV-D68 infections are believed to occur less commonly than other enterovirus infections. Exactly how the enterovirus is spread is still not clear. It most likely spreads from person to person when an infected person coughs, sneezes or touches a communal surface.

Holli Senior, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said “a number of hospitals across the state have submitted samples they may suspect to be EV-D68.”

“However, the three cases announced are the first to be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control in the commonwealth and the only cases confirmed by the CDC that we are aware of,” she said in an email.

EV-D68 is “contagious and highly communal,” Liberatore said. There is no vaccine.

Dr. Mark Fennema, with the Monongahela Valley Hospital emergency department, said EV-D68 is just one of “many respiratory viruses out there.”

The symptoms are similar to the common cold; runny nose, a cough and sneezing. Fennema said parents and caregivers should be on the lookout for high fevers and wheezing or other trouble breathing. Additional symptoms include body aches, skin rash and mouth blisters.

“Parents should not panic. This is not a new infection,” Fennema said.

The state Department of Health recommends that people avoid contact with those who are sick; disinfect frequently touched surfaces; wash hands with soaps often; avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; and avoid kissing, hugging and sharing utensils with people who are sick. They also recommend that people who are sick stay away from public places.

“We are just trying to educate the public, just as we would during flu season,” Popko said. “Again, there is no reason to panic.”