passage: A respiratory virus is sending hundreds of children to hospitals in Missouri and possibly throughout the Midwest and beyond, officials say. The virus causes symptoms like a cold, except worse, and is prompting up to 30 children a day to seek care at one Kansas City hospital, where about 15% of the youngsters were placed in intensive care, officials said. In a sign of a possible regional outbreak, Colorado, Illinois and Ohio are reporting cases with symptoms similar to the same virus and are awaiting testing results, according to officials and CNN affiliates in those states. In Kansas City, about 450 children were recently treated at Children's Mercy Hospital, and at least 60 of them received intensive hospitalization, spokesman Jake Jacobson said.
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  900 severe respiratory illness cases at Denver hospital, urgent care, says official
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  Missouri doctor calls situation "unprecedented" in terms of kids in intensive care
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  "This is the worst I've seen in my time," a Colorado doctor says
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  Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) causes respiratory illnesses like a cold, only worse
query: @placeholder also is seeing a spike in respiratory illnesses resembling the virus, and hospitals have sent specimens for testing to confirm whether it's the same virus, CNN affiliate KUSA said.
entities: CNN Children's Mercy Hospital Colorado Denver EV-D68 Enterovirus D68 Illinois Jake Jacobson Kansas City Midwest Missouri Ohio