Another child in B.C. has been found to have enterovirus-D68, an infectious disease that can cause breathing problems, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control said Saturday.
The latest case puts the number of confirmed cases of EV-D68 in B.C. at nine.
Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an infectious diseases specialist at the centre, said the child, between five and nine, is from the Lower Mainland and is in hospital with respiratory illness.
The cases in B.C. are sporadic and spread among the province’s health authorities, except for Vancouver Island, Skowronski said. None is linked to an outbreak of the disease.
On Tuesday, the centre said two boys were hospitalized after developing polio-like symptoms. One child, between five and 10, was experiencing weakness in one arm that had not improved for nearly a month, while a teenager aged 15 to 20 also developed weakness in one arm and was put on a breathing machine.
Health officials said the patients had no connection to each other and lived several hundred kilometres apart.
Enterovirus D68 tends to affect younger children and can lead to coughing, wheezing, dehydration and loss of appetite. While EV-D68 is considered a common cold, it puts young children at risk, which is why officials have been advising schools, hospitals, parents and caregivers to be on heightened alert.
Children with asthma or other underlying respiratory conditions are the most commonly affected.
The virus is spread through direct contact — such as shared drinks, or coughs and sneezes — so the best protection is good hygiene: regular hand-washing and teaching children to cover their mouth with their arm when they cough.
On Wednesday, the U.S. recorded its first EV-D68-related death. A 10-year-old Rhode Island girl died of a staph infection associated with the virus.
