“This is interesting as it resembles more of the polio virus because it does live in the intestinal tract, hence the name enterovirus,” said Dr. But scientists acknowledge that there isn’t enough evidence linking one virus as the single cause of AFM. The enterovirus D-68 is the only known pathogen that had a correlation with the AFM outbreaks in 2014. There are many strains of the common enteroviruses and they usually result in mild symptoms like cough, cold, and runny nose. One lead in the search for the cause of AFM is the enterovirus. All cases were between August and December with a peak in the late summer and early fall. Several of these cases were among children in Colorado. The disease was first spotted when an initial outbreak took place in late summer 2014 where 120 cases of AFP were diagnosed. The largest incidence of cases occurred during the late summer to early fall months. In 2014 there were 120, in 2016 there were 153 confirmed cases, and in 2018 there were 236. In the most severe forms of this illness, AFM can lead to respiratory failure necessitating ventilator support because the muscles have become so weak they cannot allow spontaneous breaths.Įach year there has been a growing number of AFM cases in the United States. The majority of cases of people who had AFM reported fever, cough, runny nose, vomiting, and diarrhea - many of the symptoms of the common cold.Īlthough many of these symptoms may go away, limb weakness is an early sign the nervous system is being affected. There are a range of symptoms including difficulty lifting an arm or leg, to having severe difficulty with the muscles that help with breathing. While polio has been eradicated from the United States thanks to the polio vaccine, this new disease has no vaccine. But the illness had symptoms similar to the polio virus, a development that’s been especially worrying for health officials and parents. The term acute flaccid myelitis was only coined in 2014 when there was an outbreak of 120 cases. The scientists discovered that although AFM is most likely triggered by a viral infection - especially a common type of virus called enterovirus - no single strain of virus was identified as a definitive cause.ĪFM is an illness that affects the nervous system, particularly the spinal cord, causing the body to weaken. Now, in a new study published in the journal, Pediatrics, researchers have come closer to understanding the cause of AFM by examining cases between 20. #Polio like disease healthnut how to#While researchers believed it was connected to a viral illness, they’ve been baffled by its cause and how to prevent it. Since 2014, researchers have been stumped by the rise of a rare but potentially devastating disease that acts similarly to polio and mainly affects children.Īcute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, is an illness that can result in paralysis and even require people to be put on ventilators. Scientists think a type of virus called an enterovirus may be the answer behind the rising cases of AFM.Often it’s temporary, but some children have had symptoms for months. AFM can cause lesions on the spinal cord that can result in paralysis.Researchers think they’ve figured out why some children develop a serious condition called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM).Share on Pinterest Researchers are learning more about a mysterious condition called actue flaccid myelitis that can lead to paralysis.
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