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Health officials on alert for virus Respiratory illness has been spotted in Chicago-area children By JESSI HAISH jhaish@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb County health officials are working to prepare for and prevent a respiratory virus that has been seen in the Chicago area recently. Enterovirus D-68, or EVD-68, is a respiratory illness with symptoms similar to the common cold, said Jane Lux, DeKalb County public health administrator. However,
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many of those who suffer from it also have trouble breathing, similar to asthma. Cases have been confirmed in the Chicago area and Missouri, mostly in the Midwest and Southeast, but no cases have yet been confirmed in DeKalb County, Lux said. “We are alert and aware of if there are any increased cases of anything suspected to look like this,” Lux said. “We are in regular contact with partners in the hospitals and schools.”
The virus has spread rapidly in some parts of the Midwest, including in the Kansas City area, where one hospital has treated almost 500 children with problems such as shortness of breath and wheezing. It typically causes illness lasting about a week and most children recover with no lasting problems. Lux said infants, children and teenagers are most likely to become infected, although the symptoms may seem mild, such as a fever,
cough, runny nose and body aches. Lux said the illness is not too common, so the range of symptoms are not entirely known. “[The virus] is transmitted through close contact with an infected person or touching surfaces that are infected, then touching nose, mouth or eyes,” Lux said. “It’s important to stay home when you’re sick.”
About enterovirus D-68 A respiratory virus that causes symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, difficulty breathing and body aches. Prevention tips • Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds • Avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth with unwashed hands • Stay home when sick • Avoid close contact with those who are sick
Source: DeKalb County Health Department
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Early start to higher education
By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, this was supposed to be a season of relief, with Iraq managing on its own and most U.S. troops finally ending their combat duty in Afghanistan. Instead, Americans are bracing for another upsurge of military engagement in a region where one war blurs into another. Across the world, a generation has now grown up amid this continuous conflict, and there’s no end in sight. “The Cold War took 45 years,” said Elliott Abrams, a longtime diplomat who was top Middle East adviser to President Related George W. Bush. “It’s certainly plausible Obama that this could be the orders same. ... It’s harder to see how this ends.” airstrikes For now, Presiin Syria for dent Barack Obama first time. seems to have biPAGE A6 partisan support for his plans, detailed Wednesday night, for expanded operations against militants of the so-called Islamic State who have overrun large swaths of Iraq. His administration has cautioned that the effort could take several years. Short-term, Obama has public opinion with him; a new Washington Post-ABC News poll found 71 percent of Americans supporting airstrikes against the Islamic State fighters, compared to 45 percent in June. Longer-term, a Pew Research Center-USA Today poll last month suggested that most Americans view the world as becoming more dangerous and expect militant forms of Islam to grow in influence rather than subside. Since the autumn of 2001, America, with its allies, has been at war
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Huntley Middle School eighth-graders Kanika Leang, Carter Maxwell and Tony Un brush up on their college-level biology before class on Tuesday at Kishwaukee College. BELOW: One of the Huntley Middle School eighth-graders reads a college-level biology textbook at Kishwaukee College.
Huntley Middle School trio taking college courses at Kishwaukee Voice your opinion
By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com MALTA – At 13, Kanika Leang can’t drive, but she can explain different types of chemical bonds and subatomic particles as well the 20-year-old students in her college biology course. Leang, along with her Huntley Middle School classmates Carter Maxwell, 13, and Tony Un, 13, takes science classes at Kishwaukee College every Tuesday. The three also take high school math and have times slated to take the SAT. Leang, Maxwell and Un want to attend the Illinois Math and Science Academy,
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a renowned college preparatory school in Aurora, meaning they have to push themselves before they can apply. “I knew it was definitely going to be a really big challenge,” Leang said. “But in the end, if it will all be worth it, I wouldn’t mind going through that process.”
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