WATCH ABOVE: Doctors are studying the onset of neurological symptoms appearing in young patients with Enterovirus D68. Marianne Dimain reports.
CALGARY – Four Hamilton area patients, including one who tested positive for enterovirus D-68, are being assessed for neurological symptoms Thursday.
Doctors from the McMaster Children’s Hospital say the four children are being looked at for symptoms including muscle weakness.
The symptoms are similar to other instances being reported in other centres in Canada and the U.S.
“At this point, we don’t know the cause of the muscle weakness,” said Dr. Lennox Huang, chief of pediatrics at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
“And it’s not clear that it is EV-D68 related.
“However, along with our partners at the Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, we are pursing the possibility of a connection and, in the interim, we want to keep parents informed.”
“Sudden onset of muscle weakness or partial paralysis is very rare in children and, whenever those symptoms appear, it’s important to seek immediate medical care,” said Dr. Brandon Meaney. “This is not common fatigue or body ache that we’re referring to. It’s much more serious than that. If your child is not able to walk, has trouble moving his or her limbs, or has problems breathing, take them to a doctor right away.”
Testing has identified 139 cases of EV-D68 in the Hamilton region since August 28.
4 CASES IN CALGARY
On Wednesday, Calgary’s medical officer of health says in less than a week, officials have identified four cases of a mysterious, neurological syndrome afflicting children in the city.
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Dr. Judy MacDonald says the disease causes an acute, rapid onset of paralytic-type symptoms, including weakness in a limb or the face.
“What we’ve been seeing is weakness in a limb or weakness in a face that’s the picture in some of these cases” said Macdonald.
The children are currently receiving treatment at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Of the four cases, three have tested positive for entero-rhino virus.
“We want people to be aware that neurologic findings are a possible severe complication of Enterovirus D-68.”
READ MORE: Is enterovirus the culprit for paralysis symptoms in Canadian kids?
On Thursday, Dr. Gerry Preddy, Alberta Health Services’ medical officer of health, said all four children in Calgary are improving.
“A couple of them have actually shown enterovirus in the test, but we haven’t actually confirmed which strain it is,” said Preddy. “So we have not confirmed D-68 in any of those four children.”
Preddy said Alberta has seen cases like this in the past. Usually, he said, there are four a year, but it’s unusual to have four in such a short period of time.
He added there are no other cases in Alberta currently.
“Enterovius infections are extremely common. Most kids with enterovirus infections have very mild symptoms and fully recover. Parents wouldn’t even know they had it. Because the symptoms do amount to nothing more than a cold.”
BC CASES
In BC, two more cases involving paralysis have been confirmed. Both patients are under the age of 20, and both have tested positive for Enterovirus D-68.
Dr. Danuto Skowronski of the BC Centre of Disease Control says health officials are investigating the link between the virus and neurologic symptoms.
READ MORE: B.C. CDC says two patients with Enterovirus D68 shows signs of paralysis
“Right now its kind of circumstantial evidence that maybe Enterovirus D-68 is associated with neurologic symptoms”, says Dr. Skowronski.
“But the more cases that are described with that association, then the circumstantial evidence is more compelling”, he says.
U.S. CASES
Other cases involving paralysis outside of BC and Alberta have also been reported within the past week in Colorado, Boston, Missouri and Michigan.
READ MORE: 4 deaths reported in people with enterovirus D68, but exact cause unclear
Dr. Frank McGeorge, a Michigan-based physician says “we have a case in Washtenaw County where it’s a paralyzed infant that is also positive for Enterovirus D-68. Does that mean the paralyzed infant got their paralysis from Enterovirus D-68? That’s not clear at all. We don’t know that. Is it possible? It is possible.”
BEST DEFENSE
Currently, there is no vaccine for Enteroviruses.
The best defense is proper hand-washing.
“The important thing to stress is handwashing,” said Preddy. “Wash your hands after you go to the toilet, wash your hands after you change a diaper, wash your hands before you eat. And if your children are sick, don’t send them to daycare or school.”
Parents should also watch for symptoms, and seek medical attention if required.
And as Dr. Judy MacDonald points out, “as always, parents know their kids best, if they become ill , if they’re developing symptoms especially of high fever, stiff neck, they’re just not right, they should be assessed.”
(NOTE: This story was originally published on Oct. 1, 2014. It was updated with information about the children’s medical conditions the morning of Oct. 2, 2014 and again in the afternoon to add the information about the Hamilton cases)
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