WebMD News from HealthDay
Oct. 14, 2014 -- A new, faster lab test for enterovirus D68 has been developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between mid-August and Oct 14, a total of 691 people in 46 states and the District of Columbia have been confirmed to have respiratory illness caused by enterovirus D68, according to the CDC. The virus was blamed for the Sept. 25 death of a 4-year-old boy in New Jersey.
The new test will enable the CDC to more rapidly analyze untested specimens received from states since mid-September. As the agency is able to do more testing with the faster lab test, confirmed cases will appear to rise, but will not actually represent a sudden surge in new cases, the CDC said.
In fact, it's expected that enterovirus D68 infections will begin to fall by late autumn.
"CDC has received substantially more specimens for enterovirus lab testing than usual this year, due to the large outbreak of EV-D68 and related hospitalizations," Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general and director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in an agency news release.
"When rare or uncommon viruses suddenly begin causing severe illness, CDC works quickly to develop diagnostic tests to enhance our response and investigations. This new lab test will reduce what would normally take several weeks to get results to a few days," she explained.
source : Faster Test Developed for Enterovirus D68
