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LOS ANGELES: This year in the United States, 116 people have been affected by the disease, a record number of cases since 2016, announced Monday (November 26) the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC officials said they did not know what causes acute flaccid myelitis or MAF, which affects the nervous system and causes weakness or even paralysis of one or more limbs. The vast majority of patients are children.
In 2014, when 120 patients were diagnosed, the CDC began investigating cases of the disease, which it estimates affects one in a million people in the United States.
Since 2014, the number of cases has increased every two years in the United States. Last year, the country had 33 confirmed cases, while in 2016, it was 149.
"It's quite disturbing that it's going up and we still have not figured out how to prevent it or treat it," said Dr. Emmanuelle Tiongson, pediatric neurologist at Children's Los Angeles Hospital, who evaluated and treated patients with this disease, said in a telephone interview.
One phenomenon observed by researchers is that the disease is particularly prevalent between August and October, a period during which many viruses circulate fluently, according to the CDC.
The disease could spread through an infection, which would explain why there have been clusters of cases in some states, said Tiongson.
The CDC released Monday a case-by-case breakdown for the first time this year.
Colorado reported 15 confirmed cases of the disease and Texas had 14, followed by Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington State and Minnesota, which each had eight, according to the CDC.
According to the CDC, states with large populations or good disease reporting methods are more likely to have more cases.
In some patients, partial paralysis that they undergo as a result of the disease will be a chronic illness, Tiongson said.
(Report by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, edited by Lisa Shumaker)
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