A polio-like virus resurfaces in the UK. Since the start of the year, 38 cases have been identified. Most of them concern children. No treatment exists.
Polio may have disappeared from developed countries, but its successor is circulating freely. In the United States, a mysterious virus is causing symptoms similar to this infectious disease. Enterovirus D68 has since crossed the Atlantic. It is now the United Kingdom which is observing an increase in the number of cases. In the absence of effective treatment or vaccine, the country is panicking. Compared to 2015, enterovirus D68 infections more than doubled. The concern is justified. The virus mainly affects young children.
Sporadic cases
The year 2016 is not over and already, the health authorities are reporting 38 confirmed cases, against 14 over the same period last year. Many of these patients are children. Indeed, their immune system is not able to fight against this virus which causes transient muscle paralysis. Four patients even had to be hospitalized. Two of them reside in Scotland, in the region of Edinburgh. The public service is currently investigating a possible outbreak.
Enterovirus D68 is getting better and better on British soil. For the moment, it is content with sporadic appearances in the population. But Public Health England posted this October 14 a risk assessment. The probability that the virus is present without being detected is “moderate” according to the health agency. In adults, symptoms are most often limited to those of the flu or a common cold.
14 deaths in 2014
Prudent, Public Health England therefore recommends several preventive measures to the population. Brits are urged to cover their mouths and noses if they are coughing or sneezing, and to wash their hands regularly. Contact with people with suspicious symptoms should also be limited. These measures may seem excessive, but the threat is real. Since the American epidemic, new infections have dramatically increased. They went from two to three per year to around fifty in 2014.
2014 is also the year of the strongest epidemic in the United States. It killed 14 people and infected 1,150 more in the space of six months. The consequences will be more lasting. Like polio, this enterovirus affects children’s ability to walk.
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