Targeting Children, First Three Cases Of 'EV-68' Respiratory Illness Reported In Michigan
LANSING (WWJ) -- Michigan health officials have confirmed three cases of enterovirus-68, or EV-38, in Michigan. The positive test results were submitted this week to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab.
CDC officials said that 160 lab-confirmed cases of EV-68 were reported in 22 states across the country, originating in the Midwest. The three cases announced Friday are Michigan's first positive cases for the uncommon virus.
Dr. Matthew Davis, the Chief Medical Executive for the Michigan Department of Community Health, said that the department has seen an increase in severe respiratory illness in kids and expects additional cases will be confirmed.
"We're having a lot for kids fall sick with breathing problems across the state of Michigan," Davis said. "We've known since about two weeks ago that a special type of enterovirus has been identified in other states and doctors across the state of Michigan have suspected for the last couple of weeks that we're seeing the same virus here in our state."
Among the ways to protect yourself and your kids are washing hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds -- especially after changing diapers -- and avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
"What we have to do is treat the kids who show up with breathing problems and we also want to remind the public to help protect themselves by using good hand-washing practices and covering our coughs and sneezes so we can prevent from spreading this any further throughout our communities," Davis said.
Davis said that though the cases are the state's first positive returns for the virus, he expects that more are coming.
"We knew, as of two weeks ago, that we were starting to see hundreds more cases of kids with breathing problems showing up in emergency rooms across the entire state of Michigan," Davis said. "This is really a problem and a challenge that has shown up from west to east and south to north."
