There have been well over 100 patients over the past two weeks at Boston Children's Hospital suspected of having Enterovirus D-68. But most of them have been treated and are doing well.
It mirrors the problem all around the country, just how many kids have gotten sick.
When Janessa Ramirez's 1-year-old son, Zaecari, had trouble breathing, she brought him to Boston Children's.
The little boy is asthmatic and she was worried he might be among the children across the nation to have gotten sick with Enterovirus.
"Just with his breathing, it was funny, but they said he was fine," Ramirez said.
Her 3-year-old daughter, Zeilani, who uses an inhaler, was also at the hospital on the same day public health officials confirmed the first Massachusetts case of the typically-rarely-seen D-68 strain.
"Confirmation of a case in Massachusetts is not unexpected. Twenty-seven states have already confirmed cases," said Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett said.
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The patient with the confirmed case is an 8-year-old girl from the southeastern part of the state with a history of asthma who was very sick. She was treated here at Boston Children's and released.
"I just spoke with her mother, and she's doing very well at home," said Dr. Michael Agus, whose unit treated the girl at Boston Children's Hospital.
Although there are more than 100 kids at the hospital suspected of having the acute respiratory virus, which, in the worst cases, can require life support through a respirator, there have fortunately been no deaths.
"This is just a regular virus that has a name," said Agus. "What's unique about it is primarily that it's hitting an enormous number of children."
Boston Children's Hospital has a slogan: "Until every child is well." And Ramirez is among those parents whose prayers have been answered.
"They checked his breathing out and checked if he was wheezing, and said that he is absolutely fine," she said. "There's no concerns at this time ... But if, further down the line, I have concerns, just bring him back and they said they can test him again for it."
The key message from health experts here is that for most kids, it's treatment at home or a trip to the pediatrician.
They urge parents not to panic.
