Four cases of Enterovirus 68 found in BC
Posted September 17, 2014 1:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Hundreds of children across many US states are sick because of enterovirus 68, and now it’s made its way to BC.
Provincial Medical Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall says so far there are four cases found in our province, which doesn’t come as a shock.
“There are about 100 enteroviruses and about 200 types of viruses that cause upper and respiratory tract infections. This is a fairly rare one, but we found it in BC which is not surprising,” he explains.
He says there could’ve been more cases, but the school strike most likely stopped it from spreading.
“We’re entering in to this sort of fall respiratory virus season. The reason we haven’t seen more cases is because we haven’t had children going back to school. Some other provinces and some states in the United States have seen sort of spikes in respiratory illness, which is expected at this time of year.”
Doctors are keeping a close eye on the virus which can cause severe respiratory illnesses in children, usually those with existing lung conditions like asthma. “We regularly monitor the occurrence of respiratory illness. We looked particularly at BC Children’s hospital to see how many come to them.”
The best prevention is to practice good hygiene, wash your hands frequently, and if you or your kids do happen to get sick to stay at home.
