[Editorial] Enterovirus D68: the unexpected guest (Lancet Infectious Diseases)

Reports of increasing numbers of children admitted to hospital with severe respiratory illness and associated muscle weakness and paralysis in the USA and Canada have caused alarm. Enterovirus D68—a member of the enterovirus genus that also includes rhinoviruses, coxsackieviruses, and polioviruses—is believed to be the most likely cause of this outbreak. Infections caused by this virus are rarely reported (only 79 cases were recorded between 2009 and 2013 in the USA) and they normally involve mild respiratory symptoms similar to a cold, but these can become severe in children with underlying problems such as asthma.