CDC Reports Rise in Hospitalizations of Children With Respiratory Virus Associated With Rare Polio-Like Illness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a health advisory about an increase in children being hospitalized with severe respiratory illness who also tested positive for the rhinovirus or enterovirus EV-D68. That particular enterovirus has been associated with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) – a rare polio-like illness that affects the nerve cells in the gray matter of the spinal cord and could lead to permanent paralysis.

What if We Could Give Viruses a One-Two Punch?

Researchers at Stanford and Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry have developed virus-killing molecules called peptoids. The technology could make possible an emerging category of antiviral drugs that could treat everything from herpes and COVID-19 to the common cold.

What makes us sneeze?

What exactly triggers a sneeze? A team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified, in mice, specific cells and proteins that control the sneeze reflex. Better understanding of what causes us to sneeze — specifically how neurons behave in response to allergens and viruses — may point to treatments capable of slowing the spread of infectious respiratory diseases.