Health
The US Disease Prevention Body warns that this year will be marked by another peak in acute flaccid paralysis.
The disease in question can cause paralysis within hours or days.
–AFP
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The American Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) on Tuesday alerted parents and doctors to the likely return of a very rare neurological disease. Acute flaccid paralysis, probably caused by a virus and mysteriously recurs every two years, mostly in children.
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The CDC predicts that “2020 will be another peak year for cases of acute flaccid paralysis,” or “AFM” in English. “AFM is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention and immediate monitoring,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said on Tuesday in a press call, imploring parents not to hesitate to hospitalize their child despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Paralysis within hours
Peaks of the disease have occurred every two years from August to November since 2014. In 2018, 238 cases were reported in the United States, with an average age of five years.
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Doctors are helpless: the disease can cause paralysis within hours or days, and no treatment has shown efficacy. “Unfortunately, many children with AFM will have permanent disabilities,” said Thomas Clark, pediatrician and deputy director of viral diseases at the CDC. “It is very important that children start rehabilitation very quickly.”
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Authorities are recontacting families affected by the 2018 epidemic to find out how the disease has evolved in infected children, and how many remain paralyzed to this day.
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Fever and respiratory symptoms
The warning signs of the disease are first fever and respiratory symptoms then, after an average of six days, weakness in the arms or legs, sometimes accompanied by difficulty in gait, pain in the neck or the back, according to a 2018 All-Case Report released on Tuesday.
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In addition to permanent paralysis, it can also progress to serious respiratory complications, with nearly a quarter of patients needing an artificial respirator. The disease affects the nervous system, mainly in the spinal cord, according to MRI scans done on patients.
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The main suspects are viruses of the enterovirus family, in particular enterovirus D68, found in around 30 patients. CDC experts, however, cannot rule out that another virus is causing the disease.
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(ATS / NXP)
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