Disease Outbreak: Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Is Affecting US Children

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that a polio-like illness known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is paralyzing the US children. In 24 states, there were about 50 people mostly U.S. children were diagnosed with the said disease from January 1 to August 31, 2016.

The polio-like illness is a condition that affects the nervous system, particularly the spinal cord. This could result from other conditions that include viral infections. The symptoms of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) are the sudden weakness in one or more arms or legs, loss of muscle tone, pains in arms and legs, facial weakness, drooping of the eyes, limb weakness and difficulty swallowing. There is no vaccine for AFM.

Acute flaccid myelitis is caused by germs that include viruses such as enteroviruses, West Nile virus, and adenoviruses. These also include viruses in the same family as West Nile Virus, Japanese encephalitis virus and saint Louis encephalitis.

CNN reports that the polio-like illness outbreak started in August 2014. There were about 120 people diagnosed in 34 states. In 2015, 21 people were diagnosed with the said disease in 16 states.

The physicians linked the outbreak in 2014 with the outbreak of Enterovirus D68, which is a respiratory virus that sent many U.S. children to the hospital. Dr. Kevin Messacar, a pediatric infectious disease physician and a researcher at Children's Hospital Colorado said that they observed that majority of children had a fever and a respiratory illness and five days later, they would develop pain in the arms and legs and weakness followed.

The experts said that there are no proven and effective therapies for this polio-like illness. They put emphasize on identifying the early signs of AFM and consulting the doctors right away. The doctors could tell the difference between AFM and other diseases by examining the patient's nervous system. As of now, there is no treatment for AFM. On the other hand, its symptoms could be reduced through some medicines.