Respiratory illness strikes hundreds of US children

Hundreds of children across the US Midwest have been stricken by a potentially serious respiratory illness, and many states are asking for federal help testing and tracking cases, media reports said.
Hospitals are reporting unusually high numbers of children with symptoms similar to that of a common cold that turns into respiratory distress. Symptoms can include coughing, difficulty breathing, and possibly a rash and fever, reviewjournal reported.
"Missouri has been hit particularly hard by the viral illness. More than 300 cases of the respiratory illness have been reported at just one pediatric hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, and 15 percent of those children have needed treatment in intensive care," the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said in statement.
Hospitals in St. Louis are also seeing a spike in pediatric respiratory illnesses, the department said, but gave no specific numbers.
"The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is helping Missouri test and track the illnesses reported, Ryan Hobart," a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said on Monday.
In addition to Missouri, suspected outbreaks have been recorded in Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia, Mark Pallansch, the director of the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases, told CNN.
“We’re in the middle of looking into this,” Pallansch said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “We don’t have all the answers yet.”
"The hospitalizations could be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of severe cases,” Pallansch added.
Enterviruses are very common viruses, and US health officials estimate there are 10 million to 15 million enterovirus infections nationwide each year.
Most people infected with enteroviruses have no symptoms or only mild symptoms, but some infections can be serious, especially in young children.