CDC Warns of Unusually Large Number of Newborns Infected with Potentially Life-Threatening Virus
Doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say an abnormally high number of harmful viral infections have been detected among infants throughout the United States this year, including one uncommonly large cluster of almost two dozen cases at a single hospital in Tennessee.
The infections- a result of a typical parechovirus- can set off troubling conditions in infants, such as fever, fussiness, unusual rashes, and poor feeding.
While life-threatening cases are still scarce, approximately one newborn baby has passed away from the infection this year, and others have experienced devitalizing consequences.
Federal health officials believe that the increase in critical cases might reflect a relaxation of COVID-19 isolation measures and the reality that even more illnesses of all kinds are now traveling from person to person.
In a new report published last week, CDC clinicians described how at one children’s hospital in Tennessee, 23 formerly healthy babies varying in age from only five days to three months old were detected with parechovirus infections throughout a six-week period from mid-April up to May.
The most common symptoms the infants shared included:
- Fevers (20/23 babies).
- Fussiness (13/23 babies).
- Poor feeding (8/23 babies).
The collection of cases is particularly worrying because while parechovirus infections are common in youngsters, usually, that number of cases would be registered over various months at this hospital, and not weeks.
In July, the CDC alerted clinicians that a dangerous form of parechovirus, PeV-A3, is spreading in “multiple states.” Disease experts suggest doctors examine any babies that might present fevers, seizures, sepsis-like syndrome, or meningitis “without another known cause”.
Brain damage and hearing loss
Of the 23 patients in this study, 21 got better from their viral infections with no known complications. However, one infant had possible hearing loss and blood clot issues, while another underwent consistent seizures, and clinicians anticipate that child will have serious developing issues.
The majority of children will contract some type of parechovirus by the time they get to preschool; however, the viral illness can be particularly harmful to the smallest children that get it (those under three months old). In 2017, pediatricians and infectious disease experts in New Zealand said parechovirus “is increasingly being recognized as a potentially severe viral infection” in infants.
Dr. Claire Bocchini, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital, said to Insider: “I always tell parents that there’s nothing that they can do to really prevent these infections when they happen.”
Bocchini mentions that parechovirus type A3 can trigger serious infections in infants’ brains, resulting in seizures and brain damage.
Bocchini suggests parents and caretakers practice “very good handwashing,” particularly after going to the bathroom and changing diapers and maintain newborn babies far from sick individuals as much as possible.
“Babies, unfortunately, are at risk of severe outcomes for multiple viruses,” Bocchini stated. She added, “But this is certainly a scary one”.
Originally published by: Insider
