Abstract
Background: In 2014 several outbreaks of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infection were reported worldwide.
Aim: To assess the characteristics of hospitalized patients during the EV-D68 outbreak, from June to October 2014, at the University Children's Hospital Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Methods: Data of children who tested positive for EV-D68 by PCR from nasopharyngeal swabs, cerebrospinal fluid or stool in the aforementioned period were analyzed.
Results: Out of 282 samples, a total of 18 (6.4%) children (median age 4.1 yrs, IQR 2.9 to 7.1 yrs, 50.0% boys) tested positive for EV-D68, all by nasopharyngeal swabs. Fifteen patients presented with signs of respiratory tract infection (RTI), 66.7% of those had a history of asthma or recurrent wheeze. On admission, respiratory distress was present in all patients presenting with RTI, 86.7% were hypoxemic. All were treated with bronchodilators and 80.0% with systemic steroids. Average hospital stay was 4.1 (SD 1.9) days. None of the patients with RTI was admitted to the intensive care unit. Besides, two patients presented with non-RTI signs: one with deterioration of prediagnosed acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and the other with worsening of known epilepsy. Of note, a patient with Omenn syndrome tested EV-D68 positive during allogeneic stem cell transplantation workout, without any clinical signs.
Conclusion: Our results imply a possibility for serious disease course in the presence of EV-D68 infection. Due to a single center data and a small sample, further studies are needed to confirm our results.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015