'Mystery Illness' Paralysing Children

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week issued a warning about illness it says it knows very little about that causes arm or leg weakness and paralysis, particularly in children. 

Background

Acute flaccid myelitis is a rare disease that affects the spinal cord in children, and occasionally in adults. Symptoms of AFM include sudden acute weakness in the arms or legs, along with loss of muscle tone and decreased or absent reflexes. AFM can affect the nerves controlling the head and neck, causing facial weakness, drooping of the eyelids, and difficulty swallowing, speaking, or moving the eyes. The most serious complication of AFM is respiratory failure, which occurs if the muscles of the respiratory system become weakened. In some cases, symptoms developed after a viral infection, such as poliovirus, West Nile virus, and adenovirus, but in others, no cause is found. Even when associated with a viral infection, it is not known how the infection triggers AFM, nor why some people develop AFM after an infection and others do not.

The United State’s Centers for Disease Control has reported 62 confirmed cases across 22 states in 2018. 

Analysis

The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases has not yet determined what pathogen or immune response caused the arm or leg weakness and paralysis in most patients.

The CDC began tracking the illness in 2014 and has seen a spike in reports in August and September every 2 years, as visualised below.

One death of a child diagnosed with AFM occurred in 2017.

Despite the recent spike in reported cases of AFM, officials underscored that the disease is “incredibly rare” and has been diagnosed annually at a rate of less than one in a million since 2014.

They recommend seeking immediate medical care for any person that develops sudden weakness of the limbs. As the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases works to better understand what is causing AFM, parents are advised to protect their children from serious diseases by taking standard precautions, such as washing their hands, staying up to date on recommended immunizations and using insect repellent.

Assessment

Our assessment is that while the disease may be rare, more research into rare diseases is necessary to prevent the tragic loss of young lives.