A polio-like disease continues to afflict children and baffle researchers

No single virus or pathogen was consistent across all the cases, making it hard to pinpoint what is causing the polio-like symptoms.

  The Recurring Dread of a Paralyzing Illness

The 2018 spike in acute flaccid myelitis has peaked, but the quest to understand this debilitating illness continues.

 Acute flaccid myelitis – blame an enterovirus, not the polio vaccine

We know that the polio vaccine is unrelated to acute flaccid myelitis. It would take special pleading or magic to create some biologically implausible link between the vaccine and any polio-like syndrome. Enterovirus 68 seems to be linked to some of the outbreaks of polio-like flaccid myelitis, an extremely rare disease. If it becomes less rare, we’d probably develop a vaccine for it. The polio vaccine is demonstrably safe, but who among you think that this claim will go away?

 Acute flaccid myelitis: What is the polio-like illness paralyzing US children?

The U.S. has been polio-free since 1979. The AFM cases in the U.S. since 2014 are polio-like but not due to poliovirus. The cause has been definitely established only in a handful of these recent cases with detection of coxsackievirus A16, enterovirus (EV)-A71, or EV-D68 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These three viruses are types of enteroviruses just like poliovirus is. Enteroviruses are viruses that typically enter through the intestinal tract.

 Another Burst of Polio-Like Cases in Children Alarms Doctors

Cases of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, have spiked every two years since 2014.

 New evidence points to possible cause of puzzling paralysis in kids

Researchers say they have strong new evidence that a virus is involved in a rare and puzzling polio-like condition that began affecting children in the U.S. about five years ago. The researchers hope their work will lead to a better test for the paralyzing condition, called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which has been diagnosed in more than 500 kids since 2014.

 Polio-like paralysis may be on the rise among children again

Acute flaccid myelitis appears to be caused most often by viruses, especially one called EV-D68. But other viruses may also be to blame. It seems to wax and wane from one year to the next, the CDC says.

 Vaccines Almost Eradicated Polio. Now A Disease Like It Is Back

Although there is no reason to fear an epidemic as of yet, the behavior of AFM has an uncanny resemblance to the polio epidemic of the early twentieth century.

What You Should Know About Acute Flaccid Myelitis

Infection with several types of viruses has been linked to AFM. Enteroviruses are a common cause of respiratory and diarrheal infections children that rarely cause AFM. Other viruses have also been linked to AFM including West Nile and other mosquito-borne viruses (St. Louis encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis viruses), cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and adenoviruses. Poliovirus is a cause of AFM that was once common in the US, but that is rare now due to vaccination and is not responsible for the current cases in the US. Autoimmune diseases and environmental toxins can also cause AFM.

Enterovirus D68 and acute flaccid myelitis—evaluating the evidence for causality

Increased circulation of enterovirus D68 in 2014 and 2016 temporally and geographically coincided with increases in cases of acute flaccid myelitis, an uncommon condition of paralysis due to lesions in the anterior horn of the spinal cord. The identification of enterovirus D68 in respiratory specimens from cases of acute flaccid myelitis worldwide further supports an association, yet the absence of direct virus isolation from affected tissues, infrequent detection in cerebrospinal fluid, and the absence, until recently, of an animal model has left the causal nature of the relationship unproven.

I didn’t expect to be doing this!

My daughter Lorelei got a rare illness, a viral infection, that was causing swelling on her spine and brain. Over the next few hours, she turned from being the cheeky, playful girl she has always been, to a girl who was struggling to breathe, and whose body was becoming paralyzed.

My Superhero. My Son

My four-year-old has been in the hospital for the past 65 days. The most heart-wrenching 65 days of my life. You may have heard of it on the news… Acute Flaccid Myelitis. An extremely rare complication from an otherwise common respiratory virus...

Mysterious Childhood Paralysis Linked to a Cold Virus

Enterovirus D68 has been around for decades—it was first identified in California in 1962, and it’s one of many viral strains to blame for the common cold. It also belongs to the same genus as poliovirus, an infectious, nerve-damaging pathogen that can cause paralysis. But up until 2012, EV-D68 had never been associated with anything beyond respiratory illness.

Our Acute Flaccid Myelitis Story

After eating, I went to sit him up and he fell backwards. Puzzled, I tried again, but again he fell backwards. My initial thought was he was full and sleepy but I quickly realized, as I looked him over, he wasn’t moving his legs, feet or toes. Everything from the waist down was torpid.

Postulating The Cause of Acute Flaccid Paralysis Associated with EV-D68

There is little doubt the EV-D68 epidemic will eventually wind down and disappear however the toll currently felt is leaving much of the population understandably worried.

The Mysterious Polio-Like Disease Affecting American Kids

Doctors are stumped about the condition's origins—and its treatment.

Understanding Acute Flaccid Myelitis

AFM is a condition causing damage to the spinal cord and generally presents with unique clinical and MRI features that are not typical of transverse myelitis.

Vaccines and the U.S. Mystery of Acute Flaccid Myelitis

AFM may result from a direct virus attack on the spinal cord, or by an immune attack triggered by a virus, or by something else. If a polio-like virus is circulating in the U.S., the possibility of its provocation by one or more vaccines has to be considered.

What is the polio-like illness paralyzing US children?

"AFM is an illness that can be seen with a variety of different causes. The most famous one is polio, but there are also enteroviruses, which are circulating very broadly in the US and other countries." 