Virus that causes polio-like illness found in Bay Area as influenza cases spike

Source: SFGATE


One of them, EV-D68, is also circulating in the Bay Area, WastewaterScan data suggests. Though it usually has little impact on adults, if unchecked, it can lead to severe, life-long impacts on children and teenagers.

First identified in California in 1962, enterovirus-D68 once appeared in small, isolated clusters but has since become more common on a worldwide scale, appearing in the late summer and fall, according to a 2023 University of Minnesota article. Rates of the illness were particularly high in the U.S. in 2014, resulting in 1,153 infections in 49 states, a 2016 article published in the Journal of Medical Virology article shows. At the time, it was the largest number of infections ever recorded.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus typically causes mild symptoms that mimic the common cold. Like many respiratory diseases, it’s found in sputum, mucus and contaminated surfaces and can be spread through coughing and sneezing. Though adults are more likely to be asymptomatic, young children — especially those with asthma — could develop a rare polio-like complication called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, which can lead to temporary or permanent paralysis. Symptoms include difficulty swallowing, slurred speech and arm or leg weakness, among several other physical signs. No vaccine is available for it.

Overall, these respiratory illnesses have “come in to fill a vacuum,” Gandhi explains, meaning that more people acquired immunity to COVID-19 but haven’t been exposed to other viruses like influenza as much over the years, making them more susceptible to infection. Levels of human metapneumovirus, another respiratory illness, are also high in North Bay regions like Marin, Santa Rosa and Napa, wastewater data suggests.

Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/polio-like-illness-flu-rates-bay-area-20288803.php