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(WISH) – There are now 286 cases of acute flaccid myelitis possible and confirmed in the United States this year, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
News 8 published a report on AFM in October.
This includes 116 confirmed cases of the rare polio-like disease, also known as MFA, which leads to the sudden onset of paralysis. This is 10 more confirmed cases that the agency reported a week ago. Another 170 possible cases of AFM are investigated.
Since 2014, more than 90% of the 440 AED patients were children under 4 years of age. Most children whose cases were confirmed had a viral illness with symptoms such as fever and cough approximately three to ten days before the onset of paralysis, the CDC. says this month.
Patients with confirmed AFM are found in 31 states, which the CDC has now identified for the first time. There are 15 cases in Colorado, the state with the highest number, followed by Texas with 14 confirmed cases. Nineteen states have no confirmed cases and 12 states record only one confirmed case, according to the CDC.
It is not clear if the AFM presents a higher risk in states that count more cases or if these states are simply better at identifying and reporting patients. Although the CDC has encouraged physicians to report cases, there is no requirement to do so.
Most AFM patients became ill between August and October, and according to the CDC, the number of illnesses has fallen to a low since 2014.
Even with the increase in the number of cases, according to the CDC, "less than one to two children in a million in the United States will have AFM each year".
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