Emergence of EV-D68 outbreak in Dakar, Senegal in 2023 underscores the need for enhanced surveillance in pediatric inpatients.
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Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has become a growing public health concern due to outbreaks of severe acute respiratory illness, acute flaccid myelitis, and acute flaccid paralysis, particularly affecting children and individuals with underlying respiratory conditions.
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EV-D68, initially discovered in 1962 in the United States, was rarely reported before 2014, but there has been a notable increase in outbreaks in recent years, affecting multiple countries worldwide.
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In Senegal, an outbreak of severe EV-D68 infections in pediatric patients occurred in 2023, with children under 6 years of age being predominantly affected and requiring hospitalization.
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The outbreak was caused by the B3 lineage of EV-D68, which has been circulating in Senegal since 2016, and all infected patients showed symptoms of acute respiratory infection, such as bronchiolitis, acute bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma exacerbation.
- Enhanced surveillance in inpatient settings across more areas, including testing respiratory specimens from patients with neurologic illnesses, is crucial to monitor and control the spread of EV-D68 infections in Senegal.
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Infectious Diseases, Public Health & Prevention, Emergency Medicine