Public Meeting Planned To Address Concerns About Enterovirus In Hamilton Township
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ. (CBS) -- A public meeting is planned for Sunday evening at a Mercer County, New Jersey high school to address concerns about Enterovirus and the death of young boy as a result of it.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday at Steinert High School along the 2900 block of Klockner Road in Hamilton Township. Health officials are expected to answer questions from concerned residents regarding Enterovirus D-68.
On Saturday, health officials confirmed that 4-year-old Eli Waller of Hamilton Township died of a strain of the virus that has sickened children in 43 states.
"The child had some brain swelling, and he had some lymph node swelling," Hamilton Township Health Officer Jeffrey Plunkett said during a Saturday afternoon news conference, "and (the medical examiner) attributed that to the virus as the cause of death."
Plunkett urged parents and the community to be vigilant about their personal hygiene and the hygiene of their children, to cough or sneeze into tissues, or the crook of the arm, and if they're feeling ill, to refrain from hugging and kissing.
But Plunkett said the biggest concern is how quickly Enterovirus-D68 struck little Eli.
"When he was put to bed that evening, he was asymptomatic," he said. "He was fine."
The CDC is now investigating another possible case in another child that attends the same school as Eli, but is in a different class. That child got sick at the same time Eli did, was omitted to the hospital and has since recovered, although has not returned to school yet.
For now, the Hamilton Township School District says its facilities are clean and things are safe.
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