Enterovirus D68, a respiratory virus that most often brings cold-like symptoms but in rare cases is linked to a polio-like condition in young children, is turning up at high and rising levels in wastewater from Palo Alto, SFGATE reported Monday.
The WastewaterSCAN monitoring network also shows high and climbing concentrations in Napa and southeast San Francisco, and high levels in San Rafael, according to SFGATE. Wastewater testing tracks traces of viruses shed by people in a community, so it can show a virus spreading before illnesses show up in clinics.
What the virus does
EV-D68 belongs to a group of more than 100 enteroviruses unrelated to polio, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infections are more common in summer and fall. Many people have no symptoms or a mild illness with a runny nose, cough, sneezing and aching muscles. More serious cases can bring wheezing, trouble breathing or pneumonia.
Infants, children and teenagers are the most likely to get sick because they have not built immunity, the CDC says, and children with asthma face a higher risk of severe breathing problems. UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi told SFGATE that older adults and people with weakened immune systems are also at greater risk.
The rare complication doctors watch for is acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, a neurological condition seen mostly in children that can show up weeks after someone is infected. It weakens muscles and reflexes. "It's the infants we get really worried about," Gandhi said.
The CDC advises getting medical care right away if a child develops sudden weakness in the arms or legs, has trouble breathing or gets worse.