Enterovirus D68 strain has been around since 1962
Posted October 17, 2014 5:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Many seem to think Enterovirus D68 is a new strain but it has actually been around since 1962.
Dr. Paul Krogstad with UCLA says it just hasn’t appeared very frequently.
“We don’t fully understand why this season seems to be more severe. There are a couple of possibilities, one is that the virus has in some way changed so that it’s causing more severe disease. Enteroviruses are known to do that. The other possibility is simply that since this is a virus that is readily transmitted and hasn’t circulated very much, that we have a large population of susceptible children, and we’ve gotten to the tipping point.”
He says D68 differs from other strains of Enterovirus.
“It acts much more like a rhinovirus. Rhinoviruses are the most common cause of the common cold and they have been shown to be triggers of respiratory disease. Most Enteroviruses don’t do that. They cause other conditions such as vomiting and diarrhea, hand foot and mouth disease.”
Krogstad says this season the virus has been magnified over a larger geographical area.
