Dr. Paul Checchia says,"We have been very vigilant looking for it, both in house and away. "
That Enterovirus test was sent to the Center for Disease Control. The CDC says the delay could be caused for a number of reasons including:
- Minimum of three days to test for Enterovirus
- High volume of specimens submitted to the lab
- Prioritizing testing specimens from children with severe respiratory illness or who died.
Now health officials are linking the first death from Enterovirus to a New Jersey four-year old boy, in good condition, who died in his sleep last month. So far, EV D-68 has infected more than 500 people nationwide.
Dr. Checchia believes there might be more involved in the death, "We learned a lot from the H1N1 outbreak a couple of years ago, what really is dangerous to kids is that fact that they get other infections, like pneumonia, like staph infections."
Marie Gonzalez, a mother of two from Houston says both of her kids go to day care. She says, "We're always washing hands, bath every night if I hear of anything I will keep them home. Want to live in a bubble, but we can't live in a bubble."