A doctor at Boston Children's Hospital says that it's unclear why some children confirmed to have Enterovirus D-68 are exhibiting Polio-like symptoms.
Of the nine patients that presented polio-like symptoms at Colorado Children's Hospital, four of them tested positive for Enterovirus D-68 and two of them are pending testing, Doctor Mark Gorman of Boston Children's Hospital confirmed.
"They have reported nine patients who presented a distinctive clinical and MRI pattern. The clinical pattern consisted of weakness in one or more limbs and the MRI pattern on the spinal chord consisted of distinctive findings restricted to the central portion of the spinal chord," Doctor Gorman said. " The significance of that is that the central portion of the spinal chord contains the nerve cells which go out to the muscles."
At Boston Children's Hospital, Doctor Gorman says there are four patients who have met the CDC case definition criteria.
"The four patients who meet the CDC case definition criteria all had a respiratory illness in the two weeks preceding the onset of their neurologic symptoms, with a range of four days to two weeks," Doctor Gorman explained.
Doctor Gorman says one of these patients has tested negative for Enterovirus D-68. The other three confirmations are pending testing.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Boston Public Health Commission issued a public health alert on Sept. 29.
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The Center for Disease Control is investigating the connection.
The virus, which causes cold-like symptoms and respiratory issues, has been confirmed in 40 states, in addition to the District of Columbia.
