More And More Children Are Getting Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM, A Not So Common Polio-Like Disease

Nov 05, 2018 by apost team

Children across the United States are contracting a disease that resembles the nearly forgotten disease Polio.

According to Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, the disease is called Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM. It is a disease of the brain and spinal cord.

CDC, the Center for Disease Control says that although there is no specific treatment for AFM, many children are still able to have a speedy recovery. Instead of trying to cure patients, doctors focus on providing symptom relief as best as possible. Because AFM is believed to be contagious, patients with confirmed cases are placed in isolation.

Symptoms begin like those of the common cold, but they quickly turn to frighteningly serious problems. Limbs become weak, the face starts to droop, and the patients even have problems talking and swallowing. The limb weakness can become so severe that the patient might become functionally paralyzed and not be able to walk or use their arms.

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The CDC confirms that most cases of AFM are found in children. While the disease is not new, it was not seen in such large numbers of children before 2014. Since then, the incidence rate continues to increase.

The increase in AFM cases is a nationwide issue. Minnesota used to have perhaps one case of AFM per year. So far in 2018, they have already had at least six confirmed cases of AFM. A girl from Illinois was recently diagnosed with AFM.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, three children are confirmed to be under treatment at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The number of cases of AFM began to increase in 2014, but no one in the medical community is able to explain why this disease and why now.

Since then, over 360 new cases of this formerly rare disease have been reported to and confirmed by the CDC.

According to the CDC, the first nine months of 2018 brought 38 confirmed cases of AFM to 16 states. They say the list of affected states includes Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, Florida, California, and New York in addition to the Minnesota, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

The CDC has yet to pinpoint the cause of AFM, but there are known cases of West Nile virus and Poliovirus leading to AFM. There are also suspected links between an increase in a respiratory virus and the increase in AFM cases.

According to the CDC, the timeline of the increase in AFM cases matches up with the timeline of an outbreak of enterovirus D68, which leads to respiratory illness. However, while there seems to be a correlation between the two, not every patient with AFM had enterovirus D68, so it is difficult to make a direct link between the two illnesses.

AFM has possible connections with many preventable diseases, so the CDC is urging parents to be particularly vigilant in doing everything they can to prevent these diseases in their children.

The possible connection to poliovirus leads the CDC to make strong recommendations that parents keep their children up to date on their vaccinations. The connection to West Nile means that it is important to use mosquito repellent regularly to protect children from being bitten by virus-carrying mosquitoes.

While hand washing isn’t confirmed to prevent AFM, it is always a good practice to prevent the spread of many diseases.

Help us spread the word about this important issue, and be sure to pass it along to any parents you know!

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!