Cases of a group of viruses that can cause a variety of disease in humans has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a health advisory.
The advisory, through the Health Alert Network, has been sent to clinicians and health departments nationwide. It was prompted by reports of parechovirus (PeV) in neonates and infants from healthcare providers in multiple states. CDC did not list the locations.
“This is a virus that is common, but the problem right now is, it has four types and the specific one that is circulating is the one that is causing the concern, because that one is the one that can be severe.” said Dr. Ingrid Camelo, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
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PeV-A is the only one of the four types that is known to cause disease in humans. The concern focuses on PeV-A3, which is most often associated with severe disease.
Symptoms can include upper respiratory tract infection and fever, most commonly in children between six months and five years of age.
“The concern that we have right now are the youngest children, six months to five years of age, because they are the ones that can get really sick,” said Camelo. They can also have skin rashes, or they can have nausea or vomiting. So, symptoms are very nonspecific, but they can progress into very, very complicated.”
The CDC advisory said the illness can be especially severe in infants under three months. Symptoms can include sepsis-like illness, seizures, and meningitis or meningoencephalitis, particularly in infants younger than one month.
Clinicians are encouraged to consider PeV as a diagnosis in infants with a sepsis-like syndrome, seizures and fever. The spinal fluid in infants with PeV often has few to no white blood cells. Tests can be conducted in commercial health laboratories, by state health departments or through the CDC.
Camelo said there is no vaccine against PeV and no specific treatment for PeV infection. That makes prevention especially important.
“Make sure that, for example, if somebody at home has diarrhea or anything like that, and they are taking care of young babies, they need to wash hands really well. If they have any respiratory illness, even if they don’t know what it is, make sure that you wear a mask and you practice social distancing, because that’s very important,” she said.
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The incubation period for PeV is unknown. Infected individuals, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, and transmit the virus via the fecal-oral and respiratory routes. Spread from the upper respiratory tract can occur for one to three weeks and from gastrointestinal tract for as long as six months after infection.
Although rare, it can result in long-term neurodevelopmental impact.
Although cases are not yet being reported in every state, Camelo said it was correct for the CDC to send the nationwide alert. She said that widespread notification is done to make every healthcare provider aware of the potential danger.
“The day the alert came out I sent an email to the physicians in the emergency department, the hospitals. I communicated with the microbiology lab, so they are aware. I also sent a message to the to the head of pediatric intensive care unit and the neonatal intensive care unit. So, everybody’s aware here of what is going on and then they are communicating constantly to see if we need to do some testing,” she said.
The CDC advisory is online at: https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2022/han00469.asp
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
