EBOLA hasn't killed anybody yet, D68 Enterovirus is well on it's way.

[PHILIP SCHNEIDER]

Should we continue to be nonchalant about EBOLA, D68 Enterovirus, and Chikungunya or is it time to be an alarmist?

2 Colorado Adults Die From Complications Of Enterovirus

October 2, 2014 7:40 PM CBS Denver

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WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - At least two Colorado adults have died from complications from what may be enterovirus-68, the same strain that has afflicted hundreds, mostly children, across the country.

Dr. Phil Emrie, a critical care pulmonologist at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, says he treated adult patients who suffered from conditions similar to the virus.

“We don’t know for sure that it’s the enterovirus-68, but we do know that it’s consistent with the illness that they’re seeing in children,” Emrie said.

That specific virus has been diagnosed primarily in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported approximately 500 cases in 42 states.

“We’re all more concerned about our children and things, but there’s no reason to think adults would not get the virus as well,” Emrie said.

Trischelle Sheeler is one of those adults who the doctor believes may have contracted the specific enterovirus-68 strain.

“It’s horrendous,” she told CBS4.

Trischelle Sheeler (credit: CBS4)

Sheeler, 48, has spent five days in intensive care at Lutheran, undergoing treatments that open her lungs to allow her to breathe. Enterovirus’ symptoms are similar to severe flu.

She has improved significantly since last Friday, when she checked into the hospital’s emergency room.

“It felt like death,” she said. “I thought I was going to die.”

Her symptoms were similar to a cold. She has since been diagnosed with pneumonia. and lab tests showed she was infected with enterovirus.

Sheeler is one of 19 adult enterovirus cases documented at Lutheran since Sept. 3.

Dr. Phil Emrie (credit: CBS4)

“Because I’ve never been this sick before and even though I’m getting better, just anything like taking a shower today was like life-threatening,” she said. “It took a lot to be able to come back and catch my (and start) breathing again.”

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Mystery virus sickens 1,000+ children across US

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By Denise Dador and Hanna Chu

Monday, September 08, 2014

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LOS ANGELES (KABC) --

More than 1,000 children in 10 states have been sickened by a mysterious virus, and doctors are warning it could become a nationwide problem. Public health officials are concerned the outbreak could be headed to California.

Health officials suspect that it is a rare respiratory virus called human enterovirus 68. It starts like the common cold, but then quickly progresses, sending kids to the hospital, unable to breathe. The illness is similar to asthma or respiratory distress, with symptoms like coughing, difficulty breathing and sometimes wheezing and fever.

There is no anti-viral therapy or vaccine yet. Health officials say children with asthma and those under the age of 5 are the most vulnerable. Pediatricians say it's because kids have smaller airways and their immune systems aren't as developed. However, public health experts say they do expect to see more adult cases as the outbreak spreads.

In one severe case in Colorado, 13-year-old asthmatic patient Will Cornejo ended up in the emergency room a day after showing basic cold-like symptoms. His asthma became so severe on the second day that the teen turned blue and was rushed to the emergency room, where doctors gave him an emergency breathing tube.

"My head started hurting after my lungs sort of started closing up," said Cornejo.

Pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Pia Pannaraj says it can progress quickly.

"With this illness there is a lot of wheezing, so it's because they can't get the air in and out of their lungs properly, so they make a noise as they exhale," said Pannaraj.

Infectious-disease specialists say enterovirus 68 was first identified in the 1960s in California. There have been pockets of illnesses ever since. But this year scientists suspect the virus has changed.

"It's possible that the virus evolved somehow so that it spreads more easily from person to person," said Pannaraj.

Which is why it's very likely the virus will be spreading through Southern California soon. Many parents are already on high alert.

As always, the best defense is to get plenty of sleep, eat whole foods and keep hands clean with constant washing. But if symptoms go beyond a bad cold, Pannaraj says you should head to the emergency room.

"Particularly if they aren't eating properly, aren't sleeping properly, and just can't breathe, especially if they are turning blue," said Pannaraj.

States that have been affected include Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Georgia.

"Viruses don't tend to respect borders," ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser said. "It is only 10 states now, but it's going to be across the country. So if your state doesn't have it now, watch for it, it's coming."

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[Paul Arnold Browning]

Never trust the Government.

[Chris Horne]

OUR MEDICAL PROFS ARE AS DUMB AS DUMB CAN BE, THEY HAVE THE BRAINS OF A PEA.  JUST LIKE TX. SEND HIM HOME.  MY MIL WAS THE FIRST DEATH FROM SWINE FLU AND THEY HAD SENT HER HOME KNOWING THE SWINE FLU WAS HERE FROM MEXICO.