What is Parechovirus and how does it spread?
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- Alert for new virus in the United States.
- What is Parechovirus?
- It spreads very easily.
A new virus that mainly affects
babies has sparked alarm in US health authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an alert for parents of newborns about infections caused by parechovirus (PeV), according to La Verdad Noticias.
Currently, the authorities have issued a statement to inform the health sector, which includes clinics and doctors. Health care providers must immediately report if they diagnose an infant with parechovirus in order to create a record and be able to respond quickly to this potentially lethal disease.
HOW DOES PARECHOVIRUS SPREAD?
To date, the number of cases that have been registered throughout the US is unknown, as well as the health status of babies or newborns who are infected. For this reason, health care providers are being asked to begin keeping records.
Health authorities in the United States are concerned that this virus spreads very easily, at least the first studies indicate so. It is believed to be airborne and can be spread by sneezing or coughing, saliva or feces.
WHAT IS THE PARECHOVIRUS?
The disease known as (PeV) comes from a virus that is part of the Picornaviridae family. It is a common pathogen that affects children and is linked to various clinical manifestations. It is worth mentioning that most infections caused by these viruses don’t have serious complications, but they can cause clinical syndromes with respiratory, brain, gastrointestinal and sepsis-like damage.
They can cause respiratory infections and, in rare cases, complications like encephalitis and seizures. It is most common in children between six months and five years old. In babies under three months of age, serious illnesses such as clinical sepsis, gastroenteritis, meningitis or encephalitis can occur. Filed Under: Parechovirus
WHAT DO THE AUTHORITIES SAY?
Regarding this disease, the statement says the following: “Physicians are encouraged to include PeV in the differential diagnoses of infants presenting fever, sepsis-like syndrome or neurological disease (seizures, meningitis) without another known cause and to perform tests for PeV in children with signs and symptoms consistent with PeV infection.»
Health authorities are seeking to track how many cases of this disease there are so that they can determine what protocols should be in place. It is very important that the records are kept to determine the steps to follow Filed Under: Parechovirus
WHAT OTHER MEASURES SHOULD BE TAKEN?
The Biden administration has asked the public to renew caution regarding Covid-19, emphasizing the importance of eligible people getting a booster shot, and the use of masks indoors at a time when two highly contagious variants are spreading rapidly throughout the country.
The new variants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, derive from the Omicron mutation that is responsible for nearly all of Covid infections in the United States, and are even more contagious than their predecessors. White House doctors stressed the importance of receiving booster shots, even if a person recently contracted the virus. Filed Under: Parechovirus
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