One baby has died and eight others have been left in hospital after a 'usually mild' illness resulted in a an 'unusual' series of infections. Several young infants in the South West and South Wales have developed severe myocarditis - an inflammation of the heart - after contracting enterovirus.
Enteroviruses are a group of viruses which can cause - usually mild - infectious illnesses which are commonly picked up during childhood. It can cause a range of symptoms but, in most children, experts say it does not usually affect the heart and most babies recover completely.
In some rare cases however, with young infants in just the first few weeks of their lives, it can be a more severe illness. Since June 2022, a total of 15 newborns - 10 in Wales and five in southwest England - have been struck down with severe myocarditis, The Sun reports.
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On Tuesday, May 16, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an alert on the amount of cases of the illness, which had come in an unusually short space of time. “The reported incident represents an increase in both the number and severity of enterovirus infections in infants under the age of one month,” the WHO said.
It added only one case was identified in Wales in the six years prior to 2022. “Although enterovirus infections are common in neonates and young infants, the reported increase in myocarditis with severe outcomes in neonates and infants associated with enterovirus infection is unusual,” the agency continued.
The 15 babies will the illness were diagnosed with sepsis as a symptom of myocarditis, the organisation said. It stressed the risk to public health was 'low', while Public Health Wales, which is investigating the outbreak, was quick to reassure parents that, despite the increase in cases, the illness was still extremely rare.
However, it was noted enterovirus infections are not among the diseases WHO members are required to track, so a similar pattern may have gone unreported or unrecognised abroad.
The parents of baby Elijah Edwards, who lost their son to enterovirus with myocarditis in March 2022, were told the infection was so rare, their son would be the only one to die from it in the country for years, WalesOnline reports. Public Health Wales are now investigating 10 other cases of the same illness - including another death - between June 2022 and November 2022. Elijah's death is not part of the investigation as it falls outside the date range.
Mum Joann told the publication Elijah was born healthy on February 25, 2022 and soon discharged from hospital , but within a few days of being at home appeared lethargic and constipated. This was put down to jaundice.
At a week old he stopped feeding completely so his parents took Elijah to A&E. He was diagnosed with sepsis and bronchitis. Eventually he was moved to the University Hospital of Wales, then again to Bristol Children's Hospital. There they found the enterovirus, which is not dissimilar to the common cold. The parents were told it could attach onto the hearts of newborn babies.
Joann said: "The consultant said it was very likely he contracted it within 24 hours of being born. I had never heard of it before. But we still don't have any answers. It has been hard. With my daughter, if we didn't have her, I don't know how we would have survived it, to be honest. When you have another child, you have got to keep going for them."
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said: "Enteroviruses are a group of viruses that cause a number of infectious illnesses which are usually mild. However if they infect the central nervous system, they can cause serious illness.
"The two most common ones are echovirus and coxsackievirus, but there are several others. Enteroviruses also cause polio and hand, foot and mouth disease."
Over 90 per cent of people show no symptoms will the disease. A wide range of symptoms can be caused by enteroviruses but most often include fever, mild respiratory symptoms, flu-like illness with fever and muscle aches, fever with a rash and gastrointestinal symptoms.
More severe complications include:
Inflammation of the brain (encephalitis)
Inflammation of the tissues around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis)
Inflammation of the heart (myocarditis)
Inflammation of the liver (hepatitis)
Eye infection (conjunctivitis)
Severe illness in the lungs
Weakness or paralysis of muscles
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