Polio-Like Virus On The Rise In Massachusetts

A polio-like enterovirus called D68 is spiking across the United States, including at both reporting wastewater testing sites in Massachusetts, reports Patch.

EV-D68

Enterovirus D68, also known as EV-D68, typically affects children and causes mild respiratory illness similar to the common cold, according to the Cleveland Clinic. However, the virus sometimes leads to severe breathing issues and a paralyzing neurological disease called acute flaccid myelitis.

While enterovirus D68 “seems to be very common” and complications are relatively rare, outbreaks of severe cases that lead to acute flaccid myelitis seem to come in waves, occurring in the United States every two years since 2014, the clinic said.

Experts aren’t sure of the cause of the recent increase in these types of cases.

Results from Boston’s Deer Island Treatment Plant, which serves Suffolk, Norfolk, Middlesex, Worcester, and Plymouth counties, show medium levels of enterovirus D68, with four out of five samples in the past 10 days testing positive for the virus. The levels began to spike in mid-August.

The Millbury testing site Upper Blackstone Clean Water, which serves Worcester County, also shows medium virus levels, with three out of four samples testing positive in the past 10 days.

Levels are also labeled “medium” nationally, with 279 out of 369 samples testing positive in the past 10 days.

SARS-CoV-2 levels in both Massachusetts locations are labeled high, RSV and influenza levels are labeled low, and norovirus levels are labeled medium. Rotavirus levels are medium in the Upper Blackstone testing site and low in the Deer Island site.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms of enterovirus D68 include:

• Stuffy or runny nose
• Cough
• Fever
• Muscle pain or body aches
• Sore throat
• Wheezing
• Shortness of breath
• Diarrhea

A few days to two weeks after initial EV-D68 symptoms, some people develop symptoms of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, including:

• Weakness
• Slurred speech
• Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
• Drooping eyelids
• Difficulty moving your eyes
• Facial paralysis
• Back, neck, arm, or leg pain

As is true for most viruses, there isn’t a specific treatment for EV-D68. Mild symptoms typically improve in a week or two, though hospitalization might be required for severe symptoms like trouble breathing, the Cleveland Clinic said.

Anyone who has signs of AFM, or has a child with these symptoms, should seek medical care.