Key result
Among 268 hospitalized pediatric cases of EV-D68 in Canada during September 2014, 64.9% were male, 98.3% presented with respiratory illness alone, and 6.8% required intensive care admission with no deaths reported.
Observational (n=268)
Yes
The September 2014 EV-D68 outbreak in Canada primarily caused severe respiratory illness in children, with a male predominance and occasional ICU admission.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Most pediatric EV-D68 cases show respiratory illness with low ICU use; cross-sectional data leaves open predictors of severity and generalizability.
BACKGROUND: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been detected infrequently and has not been associated with severe disease in Canada. In the early fall of 2014, following an unusual case increase in the United States, clusters of EV-D68 among children and some adults manifesting severe symptoms were reported in Canada. OBJECTIVE: To provide an initial epidemiological summary of pediatric cases hospitalized with EV-D68 in Canada. METHODS: A time-limited surveillance pilot was conducted collecting information on pediatric cases (less than 18 years of age) hospitalized with EV-D68 between September 1 and 30, 2014. RESULTS: In total, 268 cases were reported from Ontario (n=210), Alberta (n=45), and British Columbia (n=13). Of the 268 reported cases, 64.9% (n=174) were male; the sex difference was statistically significant (p<0.01). Age was reported for 255 cases, with a mean age for males of 5.4 years and for females of 5.3 years. For cases with data available, 6.8% (18/266) were admitted to an intensive care unit. Of those where clinical illness was recorded, respiratory illness alone was present in 98.3% (227/231), neurologic illness alone was present in 0.4% (n=1), and both illnesses were present in 0.9% of cases (n=2); cases with neither respiratory nor neurologic illness were rare (n=1). Of the 90 cases with additional clinical information available, 43.3% were reported as having asthma. No deaths were reported among the 268 cases. CONCLUSION: The EV-D68 outbreak in Canada in September 2014 represents the beginning of a novel outbreak associated with severe illness in children. These findings provide the first epidemiological summary of severe cases of EV-D68 as an emergent respiratory pathogen in Canada. The continued investigation of this pathogen is necessary to build on these results and capture the full spectrum of associated illness.
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Edwin et al. (2015) conducted an observational in Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infection (n=268). Enterovirus D68 infection was evaluated on Clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized cases. Among 268 hospitalized pediatric cases of EV-D68 in Canada during September 2014, 64.9% were male, 98.3% presented with respiratory illness alone, and 6.8% required intensive care admission with no deaths reported.
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