A severe and non-treatable respiratory virus is causing an epidemic across the United States, affecting thousands of children in more than 10 states, according to the latest reports.

The virus has been largely reported across much of the country with cases of the illness popping up in hospitals and emergency rooms in the following states as of Tuesday, Sept. 9: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Georgia. According to a report from Newsday, nearly 500 children have been treated at Children's Mercy Hospital in Missouri, alone.

According to a web page on the virus created by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the root of this respiratory disease outbreak is an enterovirus that medical expects know alarmingly little about. It goes by the name of Enterovirus D68, or EV-D68 and was first identified in California in 1962. Very few reports of the virus have cropped up over the past 40 years until just recently.

Being such a little-known illness, not much research has been carried out on the mysterious enterovirus by doctors or medical professionals across the country. However, the CDC does have a small inventory of information, facts and observations on the illness that it has put together. Although the information is far from comprehensive, the CDC's EV-D68 page is at least a starting point for parents, patients and others in terms of helping to educate themselves on this fast-spreading virus.

According to the CDC's EV-D68 page, the virus has been reported to cause mild-to-severe respiratory distress, though the full spectrum of the illness is not well-defined in terms of specific symptoms associated with it.

Since EV-D68 is less studied than other more common enteroviruses, the way it spreads is not currently well-understood.

"EV-D68 causes respiratory illness, and the virus can be found in respiratory secretions such as saliva, nasal mucus or sputum," CDC officials said. "The virus likely spreads from person to person when an infected person coughs, sneezes or touches contaminated surfaces."

There is not currently a specific treatment for EV-D68 infections. It is noted, though, that many of the infections are expected to be mild and self-limited and will require similar treatment of symptoms seen in any other respiratory virus. However, some people will fall severely ill due to EV-D68 and may need to be hospitalized, many possibly requiring intensive supportive therapy.

Many of the patients, the majority of whom are children who have acquired this virus thus far have reportedly been complaining of rapid onset of symptoms similar to the common cold and then quickly progress to an inability to breathe.

"My head started hurting and after that my lungs started sort of closing up," a 13-year-old patient suffering from the illness told Capital OTC.

The child's mother reported that her son "was in really bad shape. He came really close to death. He was unconscious at our house and white as a ghost with blue lips -- he just passed out."

Officials at the Children's Hospital Colorado said in a statement that more than 900 children have undergone treatment since early August for severe respiratory illness and of those 900, 86 were admitted to the hospital for care.

"We've been seeing a very high volume in our ER, ICU and among hospitalized patients, the hospital is very, very full," said Dr. Christine Nyquist, a pediatric infectious disease physician. "Kids are getting [the virus] and having asthma complications."

According to the Capital OTC report, at Rocky Mountain Hospital For Children, physicians have said that at least half of the beds in the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit are children who are battling the virus.

"Our pediatric floor is full of patients with pretty severe respiratory distress," said Dr. Raju Meyappan.

Currently there are no specific antiviral medications available for treating EV-D68 infections. Additionally, there are no vaccines for preventing the illness. There is also no data available regarding the overall burden of morbidity or mortality from the virus.

Medical experts suggest that there are many easy ways to protect oneself from respiratory illnesses, including EV-D68. Doctors advise both adults and children to wash their hands often with soap and water, to avoid touching one's eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands, to avoid kissing and hugging those who are sick and lastly to disinfect frequently touched surfaces like door knobs and toys.

The CDC says it has started to get on the ball in terms of collecting information on EV-D68 for help in future diagnoses, treatment, prevention and overall statistics on the virus and its causes and effects.

These CDC officials have begun working with state and local health departments and clinical and state laboratories to both enhance their capacity to identify and investigate EV-D68 outbreaks and to perform diagnostic and molecular typing tests to improve detection of enteroviruses as well as enhance surveillance.

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