Enterovirus D68 Death: Michigan Toddler Madeline Reid Dies From the Mysterious Virus
A 21-month-old toddler became the first person in Michigan to die from enterovirus D68, a deadly virus that causes severe respiratory illness.
Madeline Reid lost her battle to the disease Friday afternoon, after contracting the virus and being put on life support at the Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit on Sept.14, reports the Daily Mail.
"The CDC confirmed EV-D68 after her arrival here, and she subsequently succumbed to her illness," the hospital's chief medical officer Dr. Rudolph Valentini said, reports CNN.
"It is never easy to lose a child and our entire health care team is deeply saddened by this family's loss and mourns with them through this very difficult time," Dr. Valentin said in a statement released Saturday, according to WZZM 13.
The administrators of a Facebook page dubbed "Team Maddie," which tracked the little girl's plight, confirmed her death in a post, writing "Madeline Reid became our angel at 2:55 p.m. (Friday). She passed peacefully in her mother and father's arms."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the enterovirus is very common and affects 10 million to 15 million in the U.S each year. However, Medical experts warn that D68 is a dangerous strain of the virus, which can cause respiratory illness.
Last month, the virus also claimed the life of a 4-year-old boy in New Jersey.
On Sept. 24 Eli Waller of Hamilton Township stayed home from school after he came down with pink eye. Although he was feeling fine by the time he went to bed, he died in his sleep from the mysterious, which has put other parents in on high alert.
According to Jeff Plunkett, the health officer in Eli's hometown, the boy "had no other existing condition," and his parents had no reason to believe he was ill, reports CNN.
"He was asymptomatic and fine, and the next morning he had passed," Plunkett said. "So the onset was very rapid, very sudden. And that's clearly the big difference (between enterovirus D68 and other enterovirus strains)."
One other child at Eli's school Yardville Elementary is also being tested for enterovirus D68. He was treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and is now recovering at home, according to Plunkett. Other than that, no one else is suspected to have the virus in the town of 90,000 residents.
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