Q: I have been hearing more on the news about an apparently new disease called ‘acute flaccid myelitis’; I have two young children – is this something I should worry about?
A: This disease, which is known as AFM, is quite rare, affecting 1-2 in a million children. CDC surveillance of this disease only began in 2014, because of the increasing number of cases being diagnosed in the U.S.
Most victims of this disease (more than 90 percent) had a history of mild upper respiratory symptoms (sniffles, fever, and possibly a scratchy sore throat, all consistent with a viral infection) for several days before they rather suddenly developed muscle weakness of arms and legs and loss of muscle tone and reflexes.
Some victims also developed facial droop, facial muscle weakness, difficulty moving the eyes, drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing, or slurred speech. Interestingly, this is very similar to the way polio used to begin, but all tests of AFM patients have been completely negative for polio virus.
Of 458 children with AFM, tested for viruses, only four showed any evidence of known virus infection, from three different strains of coxsackievirus, which are actually quite common. The most severe symptom of AFM is respiratory failure, due to profound weakness of the muscles needed for breathing, even to the point of needing a respirator to survive.
Since surveillance for this disease began, most AFM cases have surfaced between early August and late October; as such, there would appear to be little cause for concern about this disease until late summer. Because a cause has not been firmly established, there is no treatment that is recommended at this time.
To learn more about this and many other health topics, visit the Centers for Disease Control website www.cdc.gov, where you can click in the search box in the upper right corner and enter your topic of interest.
I want to thank Andrew T. for suggesting this topic; if you have any particular topic you would like to hear more about, message me at paulmdake@gmail.com.
Dr. Paul Dake, a Newberry native, is a retired family physician. He lives in Pinconning, Michigan.