Ask the Expert: What is an Enterovirus and How Can I Protect My Child?

By Emma Rausch October 21, 2014

A pediatrician explains what you need to know about enterovirus, including symptoms and strains to look out for, and how to protect your kids and family from enterovirus 68, coxsackievirus, and other strains this winter.

sick child sleeping with teddy bear Pediatrician, mom, and American Academy of Pediatrics spokeswoman Tanya Altmann, M.D., explains what parents need to know about enteroviruses and how to combat them.

What is an enterovirus?

Parents should not freak out when they hear the word enterovirus, because they are very common. We see 10 to 15 million enterovirus infections in the United States every year. There are a lot of different strands of the virus. Each strand has a different number and, sometimes, even different subtypes within each number.

Most of us catch enterovirus every winter, but it’s usually a mild cold. Some of these viruses cause no symptoms, some cause common cold, and some cause more serious infections, breathing problems, or neurological problems like we saw last year with the Polio type virus.

But it is still just a virus and it will usually go away on its own.

Is an enterovirus dangerous?

It’s rarely dangerous. Typically symptoms will get worse for three or four days and then start getting better. But if the fever is lasting for more than three or four days, if the symptoms aren’t improving by the end of the week, if your child is not drinking fluids and is really looking sick, then you should really see your pediatrician.

How does an enterovirus spread?

It’s important to know that enterovirus is spread through droplets, so it’s not something that’s going to fly across the room. Even if you’re three feet away from someone and they cough or sneeze, you’re not going to get it as long as you and your child take the right steps to keep healthy by washing your hands and disinfecting surfaces that are commonly touched.

The most important thing to talk about it is how to keep your kids healthy. Kids touch tables, they touch doorknobs, they touch each other, and then they touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. That’s how the germs get into their body. You want to teach your children to wash their hands, to cough into their elbows, and you want to make sure you keep your kids home when they’re sick to prevent your family sharing germs with everybody else out there.

Are there any particular strands of enterovirus in the New York area that parents should be aware of?

There are tons of different enteroviruses. In the area, the one making news is Coxsackievirus. With this strand, children will still get a high fever, they’ll get sores in the back of their mouth, and they’ll get bumps on their hands and feet, which will be kind of tender. Sometimes, kids may not even want to drink because their mouth is so sore, even though they need to be keeping fluids down. But, again, it is just a virus and will usually go away on its own.

Also, there are actually two types of Coxsackievirus. Hand, Foot, and Mouth is one. The other is Herpangina, which is just the sores in the mouth and the fever. You can get both strains. So sometimes you’ll say, “Well didn’t my child have that a few years ago?” And they did, but they can get the other strand too.

What should parents know about enterovirus 68?

This is a specific strain that can be a little bit more frightening to parents because it is causing more severe trouble breathing than we have seen in the past, especially in children with asthma. This is because children with asthma have more sensitive lungs. We know that viruses are the number one trigger for children with asthma, so when they get sick, they often start wheezing or usually they have trouble breathing.

For kids who are having trouble breathing from the enterovirus, it would be hitting them really fast. So, it’s not like they’re sick for a week and then they start wheezing. It should be in the first day or two.

If you have a child with asthma, talk to your doctor and it may be the time to start them on a preventative medication that may be able to protect their lungs for when they do get sick during the winter or get whatever it is that triggers their symptoms.

Dr. Altmann received her medical degree from Sackler School of Medicine and completed her medical internship and residency at UCLA. She is also a mom of two, a best-selling author, and a network television parenting expert. Learn more at drtanya.com.