Health officials are determining if a respiratory virus popping up across the U.S. is directly linked to the death of a 10-year-old girl from Rhode Island.

Despite the widespread of enterovirus D68, no deaths have been attributed to the virus.

Several states have seen cases in which children hospitalized with respiratory problems from the EV-D68 later developed paralysis in their limbs, hinting at a neurological symptom of the disease.

As of Wednesday, USA Today reported that 500 people in 42 states had been confirmed cases of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of the infections thus far have been among children, especially those with asthma or pre-existing breathing problems.

Also announced Wednesday, the Rhode Island Health Department said that a girl from Cumberland had died last week of a staph infection related to D68. She had been hospitalized in Providence at the Hasbro Children's Hospital when she began having difficulty breathing. The Health Department called her case "a very rare combination" of illnesses.

The enterovirus causes symptoms similar to the common cold, but can become more severe as EV-D68 is related to the virus that causes polio. The D68 variety was first identified in California in 1962, one of over 100 non-polio enteroviruses, which mainly affect infants, children and teenagers.

In Colorado, health officials are looking into 10 cases of muscle weakness in children that have developed after they had EV-D68. Some believe that double infections, where patients are ill from an additional virus besides D68, may be the cause of this temporary paralysis.

"Thic could be just coincidental, so we can't leap to the conclusion that enterovirus D68 is the cause of this paralysis," William Schaffner from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, said to WebMD. "It's right at the top of our list of suspects, but we haven't nailed it yet."

Most diagnosis of the D68 virus occur in summer and fall and taper off as the weather turns colder.