Enterovirus D68 reported in California
SAN DIEGO — California's first cases of the uncommon respiratory infection enterovirus D68 have been reported by San Diego County health authorities.
The Health and Human Services Agency says three local children and a fourth visiting from Ventura County were hospitalized earlier this month and have since improved and been released. The children ranged in age from 2 to 13.
The federal Centers for Disease Control says the virus has been identified as causing cases of severe respiratory illness across more than a dozen other states since mid-August, usually in young children and many with asthma.
Additional samples from San Diego patients are currently being tested by California public health officials.
However, county public health officer Dr. Wilma J. Wooten says overall county-wide respiratory illnesses have not increased significantly.
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