A hospital in western Illinois began restricting visitors over the weekend after an influx of children with breathing difficulties.
At Blessing Hospital, in Quincy, children under the age of 12 are restricted from visiting hospital patients.
Blessing reported the outbreak hit hard over the Labor Day holiday weekend, with more than 70 children going to the Blessing Emergency Center with breathing difficulties. Seven were admitted for treatment of the as-yet-unidentified virus.
A hospital epidemiologist said it could be the same enteovirus infection that has also hit St. Louis and Kansas City. Health officials in 10 states have asked for help in addressing the outbreaks, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The illnesses appear to be caused by a distant cousin of the polio virus, which causes respiratory symptoms and appears to be worse in children with asthma.
