enterovirus 68 Virus 1000 cases in Colorado

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mbrandazzo

New member
Hi!

I am the mom to a 6 yr. old son with CF... Anyway, I wanted to see if anyone has heard of how this new terrible respiratory virus that is going around the MidWest might affect CF Patients? I am trying not to freak out about it, but I am so concerned... I called my son's team today and they said to just take extra precaution by making sure he washes his hands frequently. I am just wondering if anyone else has heard more about it, and also how it affects the CF population... Thank you!
 
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triples15

Super Moderator
Yes, I've been seeing/reading it all over the news. :( Scary. So hard with little ones to keep germs at bay. I'm the CFer in our family, but I have a 2 year old daughter and no matter how often we wash her hands it seems like she's always sticking her fingers in her mouth or nose, and/or rubbing her eyes right after touchy something ridiculously germy!! UGH. Whatever she catches, I catch too, so this bug is really scary.

I guess we can just continue to try to be vigilant and that's about it!!

Take Care!

Autumn 33 w/CF
 
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enniob

Administrator
Staff member
Hi All, found this press release that has some good information: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/08/children-respiratory-virus-illinois-missouri

Basically:

The suspected germ, enterovirus 68, is an uncommon strain of a very common family of viruses that typically hit from summertime through autumn.
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The virus typically causes illness lasting about a week and most children recover with no lasting problems.
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Children with asthma and other health problems are especially at risk for the enterovirus, but reported cases include children without asthma who have developed asthmalike breathing problems, Pallansch said. He said no deaths have been reported in the outbreak.
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Affected children are “as small as infants all the way up to teenagers
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The virus can spread through sneezing and experts say good hand-washing practices are important to curb transmission. The take-home point is wash your hands and keep your hands away from your face
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I guess all you can do at this stage is try to be vigilent and keep your children away from affected/danger areas if known. Wash hands often, not only the child but everyone in close proximity...so the whole family and visitors.

- chris
try to be vigilant
 
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dixonthedogg

Guest
I'm SO happy to see this on this forum! I have been reading everything I can on this nasty little bug. In fact, we have our usual clinic appointment on Thursday and I intend to bring it up to our pulmo just to see what her feelings are on this and if there are any other precautions I need to take. I will monitor this thread as well to see what others are hearing as well. Have a happy day!
 
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Melissa75

Administrator
Another thing that people can do is try to improve their gut bacteria so they are maybe a little less vulnerable to enteroviruses. (Taking a probiotic or eating yogurt, reducing sugar).

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HEV = Human Entero Virus

"Probiotic treatment did not affect significantly the risk of HEV infections during the 2-year follow-up although a trend for transient decrease for HEV positivity (HEV-A and/or HEV-B) by the age of 12 months was observed in children who received probiotics [OR 0.40; 95% confidence interval 0.15 to 1.08; P-value 0.071, generalized estimating (GEE) analysis]."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22499016

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EV71 (a rare enterovirus)

"Specially, the CFS of yogurt fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bifidobacterium bifidum exhibited high anti-EV71 activity of 92.74 and 90.44%, respectively."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10068-010-0042-x

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And then there is this strange study from the 1970s.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12719

"Commercial grape juice at both natural and neutral pH inactivate various enteric viruses and herpes simplex virus; a 1,000-fold reduction in poliovirus infectivity occurred after incubation with grape juice, pH 7.0, for 24 h at 4 degrees C."
 
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Melissa75

Administrator
enterovirus 68 Virus Melissa75 Responds: 12 confirmed cases

There have been 12 confirmed cases of D68 in New York and possible cases that are waiting test results in two CT hospitals.
 
R

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
IMO, all we can do is remain vigilant. We always increase chest physiotherapy, try to do nasal rinses at the first sign of a cold or upper respiratory bug. Sure it freaks me out, as with any outbreak of anything, but I can't live in fear. What drives me nuts is people reminding me daily -- "have you heard about that virus" "what are you going to do". Friend of mine's daughter has been sick with a sinus infection, fever, cough for a few weeks and it amazes me how rude people are when they post links on facebook "maybe it's the enterovirus" As if we don't have enough to worry about, freak out people who are already struggling and worrying about this.
 
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leecee

New member
Ratatosk, you sum it up nicely that we can't live in fear. When we went to clinic, doctor told us just to wash hands, wash hands, wash hands. Easy enough.
 
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Haileysmommy

New member
I have not posted on here in forever but read daily.

We are in CO where there have been over 1000 cases. I called the CF team and they said the same as above. Hygiene, hygiene, hygiene. Wash your hands, use sanitizer, and don't hang out with anyone that is sick. We have also been extra careful not to share food or drinks with each other and especially others out side of the home. We were told to call the clinic not our primary care at the first sign of any cold symptoms. I also let her teacher know my concerns and she gave a germ speech in class.
 
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triples15

Super Moderator
Melissa75 said:
Another thing that people can do is try to improve their gut bacteria so they are maybe a little less vulnerable to enteroviruses. (Taking a probiotic or eating yogurt, reducing sugar).

-----------
HEV = Human Entero Virus

"Probiotic treatment did not affect significantly the risk of HEV infections during the 2-year follow-up although a trend for transient decrease for HEV positivity (HEV-A and/or HEV-B) by the age of 12 months was observed in children who received probiotics [OR 0.40; 95% confidence interval 0.15 to 1.08; P-value 0.071, generalized estimating (GEE) analysis]."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22499016

----------

EV71 (a rare enterovirus)

"Specially, the CFS of yogurt fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bifidobacterium bifidum exhibited high anti-EV71 activity of 92.74 and 90.44%, respectively."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10068-010-0042-x

-----------

And then there is this strange study from the 1970s.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12719

"Commercial grape juice at both natural and neutral pH inactivate various enteric viruses and herpes simplex virus; a 1,000-fold reduction in poliovirus infectivity occurred after incubation with grape juice, pH 7.0, for 24 h at 4 degrees C."
Click to expand...



Excellent reminder about probiotics. It's so easy to forget that that gut health also plays a big role in the immune system. I've been doing better with remembering my daughter's(no cf) Culturelle since I read your post. :)

Autumn 33 w/cf
 
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politicaljules

New member
I just heard in one of my groups for families of children with Down syndrome that a five year old girl died of the enterovirus. She had Down syndrome and Asthma.(U):(
 
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Melissa75

Administrator
I'm so sad to hear that. I found this article that reports on the death of a child under ten from D68 - maybe the same person. The article implies that the cause of death was an ability/delay in getting emergency medical care because of overwhelmed resources. http://witscience.org/enterovirus-d68-claims-first-victim/

Again, I'm so sorry to hear of this little girl's death.
 
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