Lesser-known virus surges in Bay Area ahead of flu and COVID

"A mix of enteroviruses is known to spread every year, primarily in the late summer and early fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at UCSF, told SFGATE that most people end up with cases that are mild and include runny nose and cough. In some rare cases, the virus can infect the protective covering around the spinal cord and brain, causing meningitis."

""We see a lot of patients in the hospital who come in, they'll have a headache, will do a lumbar puncture ... and they'll actually have enterovirus in there," Gandhi said. She explained that when people develop meningitis related to enterovirus it is often much more mild than bacterial meningitis. "They're "totally functional, you know, but they'll have a mild headache," Gandhi said of these patients."

"People with severe symptoms can end up hospitalized for respiratory therapy. One especially frightening effect of enterovirus D68 is a potentially dangerous neurological condition called acute flaccid myelitis. In this case, the person affected, usually a child, develops serious "polio-like" symptoms, including muscle weakness that can lead to permanent paralysis. "It can be very scary, but it's very rare," Gandhi said."

Wastewater monitoring in the Bay Area shows elevated levels of enterovirus D68. Enterovirus D68 is an RNA respiratory virus that can cause respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and, in some cases, neurological effects. Most infections are mild, producing runny nose and cough, and meningitis from enterovirus tends to be less severe than bacterial meningitis. Severe respiratory illness can require hospitalization and respiratory therapy. A rare neurological complication, acute flaccid myelitis, can cause polio-like muscle weakness and potential permanent paralysis, and no vaccine or specific cure exists.

Read at SFGATE