Polio-like Paralyzing Illness Spreads to 31 states in USA, CDA Reports

Acute flaccid myelitis, the polio-like crippling illness, affects the nervous system, specifically the gray matter of the spinal cord, causing muscle weakness.  According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, includes 286 cases possible and confirmed cases, 10 more confirmed cases reported a week ago. It affects mainly children and the case counts by CDC were updated every Monday.

CDA reports that most children with confirmed cases experienced a viral illness with symptoms including mild respiratory illness accompanied by fever and cough about 3- 10 days before the onset of paralysis. About 15 cases are affected in  Colorado, the state with the highest number, followed by 14 confirmed cases in Texas. Total of 19 states have no confirmed cases while 12 states are reporting only one confirmed case.

The patients with confirmed AFM are in 31 states, which the CDC has now identified for the first time. There are 15 cases in Colorado, the state with the highest number, followed by Texas with 14 confirmed cases. Three cases of AFM have been confirmed in Alabama. Nineteen states have no confirmed cases, and 12 states are reporting only one confirmed case, according to the CDC. This is increasing every year, CDC says two in a million children in the US will get this disease each year.

The stool specimen from AFM patients were tested negative for poliovirus. CDC detected coxsackievirus A16, EV-A71, and EV-D68 in the spinal fluid of 4 out of 440 confirmed cases since 2014. For others, no germs had been detected in the spinal fluid to confirm the cause.

CDC is obtaining National Data and monitoring the viral activity periodically. They are enhancing AFM surveillance in specific hospitals. It had developed assays to see the biomarkers associated with AFM for earlier confirmation of children at risk of becoming paralyzed and the extent the spinal cord is affected after an infection.

CDC also take every step to educate the healthcare providers and the public alike so that they are aware of the symptoms and the clinical management for such patients. It updates the new information about AFM and the confirmed cases every Monday and publishing the data in scientific journals.