A faster lab test is now available for the deadly Enterovirus D68, which has sickened hundreds of U.S. children in recent weeks.
“This new lab test will reduce what would normally take several weeks to get results to a few days,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the CDC, the rare respiratory illness is expected to decline by late fall, and there are already indications from some states that fewer cases are being reported.
The new rapid test will not be used to treat those who get sick, but rather to track the spread of the virus, the CDC said.
“The outcome of the EV-D68 test is to collect surveillance data to help public health officials target our responses to the outbreak, not to determine the treatment plan for a specific patient,” a CDC statement said.
The CDC plans to use the test on about a thousand cases it has received since mid-September and will increase testing from 40 specimens per day to up to 180 per day.
“The real-time lab results combined with data on hospital admissions will help us understand when and where the EV-D68 outbreak is ending,” the CDC said.
The disease has killed several children, including a Michigan toddler and a New Jersey preschooler.
