The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising doctors and nurses to be on the lookout for signs of a common but potentially deadly virus that has been circulating in several states since May.
A CDC advisory on parechovirus last week urged health care professionals to test for parechovirus in infants with fever, sepsis-like syndrome, or neurological illness, such as seizures and meningitis without any other known cause.
According to the CDC, it’s not known how many cases there may have been this year, and no reported cases in Alabama. The infections occur usually in the summer and fall.
Human parechoviruses are actually common childhood pathogens that most children have been infected with by the time they reach kindergarten. Some children will show mild symptoms, or none at all. There are four main species of the virus, but serious illness has only been connected to one sub-type: PeV-A3.
At least one infant has died of the disease, according to The New York Times.
Symptoms, such as upper respiratory tract infection, fever, and rash are common in children between six months and five years, according to the CDC. However, in infants less than 3 months, severe illness can occur, including sepsis-like illness, seizures, and meningitis or meningoencephalitis, particularly in infants younger than 1 month.
One sign – spinal fluid in infants with parechovirus often has few to no white blood cells.
There is no treatment for parechovirus. However, you can prevent infection by washing hands frequently, as you would with any infant, and limiting visits with people who are sick.
