Data from the pivotal Phase III TONADO™ studies for tiotropium + olodaterol Respimat® fixed dose combination (FDC) were presented for the first time at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2014 in Munich.

On August 19, 2014, CDC was notified by Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, of an increase (relative to the same period in previous years) in patients examined and hospitalized with severe respiratory illness, including some admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. An increase also was noted in detections of rhinovirus/enterovirus by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay in nasopharyngeal specimens obtained during August 5–19. On August 23, CDC was notified by the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital in Illinois of an increase in patients similar to those seen in Kansas City. To further characterize these two geographically distinct observations, nasopharyngeal specimens from most of the patients with recent onset of severe symptoms from both facilities were sequenced by the CDC Picornavirus Laboratory. Enterovirus D68* (EV-D68) was identified in 19 of 22 specimens from Kansas City and in 11 of 14 specimens from Chicago. Since these initial reports, admissions for severe respiratory illness have continued at both facilities at rates higher than expected for this time of year. Investigations into suspected clusters in other jurisdictions are ongoing.

The CDC still is trying to gauge the extent of what might be a large outbreak of a rare enterovirus causing severe respiratory illness among children.

The CDC is investigating whether the rare virus is responsible for outbreaks of respiratory illness among children in 11 states. So far the agency has not received reports of neurological complications.