Four-year-old Eli Waller stayed home from preschool on Sept. 24 with a slight case of pink eye.
He seemed to be in otherwise good health when he went to bed that night, but the little boy from Hamilton Township, N.J., never woke up, the town's health officer Jeff Plunkett said.
Eli is the first child whose death has been linked directly to enterovirus D68, a severe respiratory virus that has infected more than 500 people, mostly children, in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
Plunkett said Saturday that Eli, who attended Yardville Elementary School, did not show any symptoms before his death. The Mercer County medical examiner determined that Eli's pink eye was unrelated.
'He was asymptomatic and fine, and the next morning he had passed,' Plunkett said Saturday during a news conference. 'The onset was very rapid and very sudden.'
Enterovirus D68, one of 100-plus strains of enteroviruses, usually causes cold-like symptoms like coughing or a runny nose. Children with asthma or underlying health issues may be hit particularly hard by the bug.
Four individuals who died tested positive for the virus, but health officials have not determined whether enterovirus played a role, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Scott Ketterer/AP
A 10-year-old Rhode Island girl from Rhode Island died in late September from a rare but fatal combination of a staph infection and enterovirus D68, state officials said Wednesday.
Health officials are also investigating cases of paralysis and muscle weakness in Boston and Colorado to determine if the symptoms are linked to the virus.
Enterovirus D68 has no cure, so health officials across the board have been urging people to take preventative measures like washing hands frequently with soap and water and disinfecting touched surfaces.
vtaylor@nydailynews.com
With News Wire Services
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