A seventh child has died from a virus outbreak at a rehabilitation center in Haskell, New Jersey, according to health officials. On Wednesday morning, officials from the New Jersey Department of Health released a statement saying they “learned last night that unfortunately, another child who was hospitalized due to adenovirus passed away yesterday.” Eleven children at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation remain ill with this particular strain (#7) of adenovirus. The health department was first notified of the outbreak on Oct. 9. Adenovirus is a common virus that can affect anyone at any age and usually has only mild effects. Symptoms typically include those associated with sore throat, pinkeye, bronchitis and pneumonia. For most people, this virus would show up as a barely noticeable common cold. “There are at least 60 serotypes of adenovirus,” Dr. Todd Ellerin, an infectious disease specialist at South Shore Hospital in Massachusetts, told ABC News. “[But] there are only a few types that can cause severe respiratory distress and #7 is one of them. Rarely does adenovirus get this nasty.” The infected children have been described as “medically fragile” with weakened or compromised immune systems. There’s currently no treatment for this strain of adenovirus, which is typically found in communal living spaces. It’s unclear how the children first fell ill. However, over the weekend, a health department team found “minor handwashing deficiencies” throughout the facility, according to a statement released Tuesday. “We’ve all had it, probably didn’t even really know,” Dr. John Torres, a medical correspondent at NBC News, told the outlet. “You just kind of had the cold for a few days and you recovered, no problem. The issue is that with people who are immunocompromised, especially these children who they’re describing as severely immunocompromised, it can be deadly.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with New Jersey health officials continue to investigate the outbreak. The rehab facility is currently not admitting any new patients. The last outbreak of adenovirus #7 was recorded in Oregon from October 2013 to July 2014, which infected 198 people and killed five.<doc-sep>This picture of an adenovirus was taken using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It has been artifically colorized. This story was updated at 11:23 a.m. ET on Oct. 24 to reflect the most recent number of deaths at this time. Seven children at a New Jersey healthcare facility have died in an outbreak of adenovirus, a virus that can cause cold and flu-like symptoms, according to health officials. An additional 11 children at the facility, called the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, New Jersey, have also fallen ill with adenovirus, according to a statement from the New Jersey Department of Health. The facility is not admitting any new patients until the outbreak ends, the statement said. Adenoviruses are prolific viruses that can cause a variety of illnesses, including upper respiratory infections — such as colds — as well as pneumonia, gastrointestinal illness, conjunctivitis (pink eye) and even urinary tract infections. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, although serious illness with adenovirus is not common, the according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Still, people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of developing severe illness from adenovirus, according to the CDC. The children at the Wanaque Center fit into this category. "This outbreak is affecting medically fragile children with severely compromised immune systems," the statement said. [The 9 Deadliest Viruses on Earth] Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, who is not involved in the outbreak investigation, agreed that the deaths in this outbreak may be partially explained by the fact that the children had underlying medical conditions that predisposed them to severe infection. But Adalja noted that deaths from adenovirus may not be as uncommon as we think. Adenovirus can be a cause of severe pneumonia, but "often times [doctors] say this person got pneumonia, and they never figure out" what caused it, Adalja said. Need to vaccinate? There are dozens of strains of adenoviruses. The one behind the New Jersey outbreak is adenovirus 7, a strain that's known to cause respiratory symptoms and spread among people living in close quarters, including military recruits. For example in 1997, an outbreak of adenovirus 7 at a U.S. Navy training center sickened more than 350 people, according to a 2002 report. Adenovirus 7 has also been tied to cases of severe pneumonia and death in infants in South America, Adalja said. A vaccine against adenovirus strains 4 and 7 is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but it is available only for members of the military. However, some medical professionals think the vaccine should be considered for use in a broader population, Adalja said. The current outbreak "underscores the need to think about the fact that, maybe there are other groups that would benefit from adenovirus vaccination," Adalja told Live Science. Studies would be needed in other high risks groups to see if the vaccine benefits them, he said. Other ways to prevent the illness include washing hands often, avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, and avoiding close contact with those who are sick, according to the CDC. It's unclear exactly how the New Jersey outbreak started, but an investigation by the Health Department found "minor handwashing deficiencies" at the Wanaque Center, the statement said. The outbreak investigation is ongoing. Originally published on Live Science.<doc-sep>Six “medically fragile” youngsters are dead and a dozen others sickened by a virus that’s swept through a medical facility in northern New Jersey, health officials said Tuesday. The kids are pediatric residents with “severely compromised immune systems” at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, the state Department of Health said in a statement. The department was first notified of “respiratory illness” at the long-term facility, which also houses the elderly, on Oct. 9, department spokeswoman Nicole Kirgan said. A total of 18 kids were sickened by adenovirus #7, a virus that’s common in young children . It usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, acute respiratory disease and conjunctivitis, or pink eye. The symptoms can last up to 10 days. The department said the affected patients are “medically fragile children,” or dependent on a ventilator. Their vulnerable state put them at a higher risk of developing severe illness from an adenovirus infection. “The strain has been particularly associated with disease in communal living arrangements and can be more severe,” the department said. A team of health officials was at the center Tuesday to investigate. On Sunday, they said they found “minor hand washing deficiencies.” Washing your hands with soap and water, avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unclean hands and avoiding close contact with those who are sick can help prevent adenovirus from spreading, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health officials said the center has been barred from admitting new patients until the outbreak is cleared and “they are in full compliance.” “This is an ongoing outbreak investigation,” the department said. Kirgan refused to provide any information about the patients, including when exactly the six deaths occurred, citing patient privacy. The Passaic County facility’s pediatrics center cares for patients ranging in age from newborn to 22 years, according to its Web site. The patients are taught in special handicap-accessible classrooms with New Jersey-certified teachers at the helm.<doc-sep>
Six "medically fragile" children have died after contracting adenovirus at a New Jersey health facility. A total of 18 cases have been confirmed at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, the State of New Jersey Department of Health reported. The Department found "minor handwashing deficiencies" during an inspection held Sunday and the facility has closed its doors to new patients until the outbreak is over. An investigation into the tragic events is ongoing. Adenovirus often causes mild illness but the affected children at the Wanaque Center were at particular risk because of their severely compromised immune systems. "Adenovirus" refers to a group of viruses that can cause common-cold like symptoms and diarrhea, as well as conditions including bronchitis, pneumonia, neurologic disease, bladder infection and pink eye, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. It can strike at any age, and people with compromised immune systems or cardiac or respiratory disease are more likely to develop severe illness, the agency states. Adenovirus is often spread from person to person by touching, coughing and sneezing and by touching contaminated objects then touching the mouth, nose or eyes. The virus can also spread in swimming pools even though this is less usual, the CDC reports. The virus can be released from the body even after symptoms have disappeared and can then be passed on to others. Children at the Wanaque Center have been affected by adenovirus strain #7 which is linked to communal living, the Department of Health reported. Type 7 is also associated with acute respiratory disease according to the CDC. "There are at least 60 serotypes of adenovirus," infectious disease specialist Todd Ellerin from South Shore Hospital in Massachusetts, told ABC News.. "[But] there are only a few types that can cause severe respiratory distress, and #7 is one of them. Rarely does adenovirus get this nasty." Although a vaccine for certain types of adenovirus—7 and 4—was approved in 2011, it is only available to people working in the military, the CDC reported. The close living conditions associated of a military lifestyle can provide a fertile ground for these adenovirus strains. "There have been fatal cases seen in military recruits in the past because of crowding," Ellerin said. "They were so close to each other that the respiratory diseases spreaded." Like many other infectious conditions, proper hand-washing will help prevent transmission. Avoiding close contact with sick people, and remembering not to touch your eyes, mouth and nose before washing your hands, can also help stop adenovirus spreading. Investigators are probing exactly how the Wanaque Center cases spread. "Whenever you hear of an outbreak, you need to ask if there was an infection control lapse, which means cleanliness of surfaces. Hand hygiene. We don't know what happened in this case, but that is what will be looked at." No specific treatments are available for adenovirus, but many mild cases will only require care. For more severe cases, it is important to seek medical attention. The Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment.