News 96.5 morning news host and News Director Joe Kelley is back to work this morning following a two-week bout of entervirus D-68 (EV-D68).
"The first hour on the air this morning was sketchy at best, but I found my lungs by 6:00am," says Kelley, who hosts Orlando's Morning News starting at 5:00am.
As the CDC describes, testing for enterovirus is quite easy:
EV-D68 can only be diagnosed by doing specific lab tests on specimens from a person’s nose and throat.Many hospitals and some doctor’s offices can test ill patients to see if they have enterovirus infection. However, most cannot do specific testing to determine the type of enterovirus, like EV-D68. CDC and some state health departments can do this sort of testing.
Joe was given a nasal swab on his second day at Health Central Ocoee and was immediately placed into isolation protocol that limited the number of healthcare workers in his room and required all who entered to be clothed in protective gear, masks and gloves. Joe was kept in isolation protocol for 9 days to follow.
Joe walked into the ER at Health Central in the pre-dawn hours on Friday, October 17th. His primary symptoms were a near 103-degree fever and difficulty breathing. After quickly ruling out any exposure to Ebola, Joe was treated for his symptoms and testing began to find the source of his illness.
Ten days later, Joe was released from isolation protocol and released from the hospital.
"I'm amused with the number of people who tell me 'You know enterovirus is a kid's disease, right?'", Joe says. While the disease is predominately found in children, adults can also be infected.
From the NYTimes:
At least four people have died after contracting a severe respiratory illness that has spread to more than 40 states, public health officials announced on Wednesday.
The deaths were the first to be linked to the nationwide outbreak of enterovirus 68, which has caused an influx of sick children — some of them critically ill — at hospitals around the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 472 cases of the infection as of Wednesday, although experts said the true number of cases was likely to be many times that number.
From mid-August to October 31, 2014, CDC or state public health laboratories have confirmed a total of 1,105 people in 47 states and the District of Columbia with respiratory illness caused by EV-D68.
CDC expects that, as with other enteroviruses, EV-D68 infections will likely begin to decline by late fall.
Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is one of more than 100 non-polio enteroviruses. This virus was first identified in California in 1962.
What are the symptoms of EV-D68 infection?
- EV-D68 can cause mild to severe respiratory illness.
- Mild symptoms may include fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough, and body and muscle aches.
- Severe symptoms may include wheezing and difficulty breathing.
