A mysterious paralysis affects six children. What is acute myeloid spondylitis?

Last month, six Minnesota children were diagnosed with a rare condition, a potentially fatal nervous system disease called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which led the Minnesota Department of Health to investigate.

Currently, we do not know much about the development of the MFA and there is no specific treatment.

Although researchers believe that environmental toxins and heredity might also play a role, this condition appears to be associated with certain types of viral respiratory tract infections in children and very few cases of cancer. adults have been reported.

Viruses of the enterovirus genus, a group of viruses that includes cold and poliovirus viruses, are closely related to the AFM, although earlier cases are associated with West Nile virus, HIV virus, and other viruses. Japanese encephalitis and encephalitis of St. Louis adenovirus and adenovirus.

According to a statement from the ministry, the state usually notes a case of MFA every year, although the number of cases nationwide has increased in 2014 as a result of the epidemic. an intestinal virus called EV-68. State in the country in 2014, but only 21 cases in 2015.

The onset of AFM is characterized by sudden weakness or paralysis of one or more extremities, sometimes accompanied by weakness of the neck, stiffness, dislocation of the eyelid, other facial muscles, difficulty in swallowing and / or confusing speech. Respiratory insufficiency caused by weakness of the diaphragm muscles, if respiratory failure begins to occur, the patient must be the subject of urgent medical intervention to be placed on the ventilator.

In a small number of cases, the development of AFM causes other serious neurological complications resulting in death.

These disorders are caused by lesions of the gray matter of the brain and spinal cord, a diagnostic marker detectable on MRI images. Most individuals have also shown an increase of immune cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, and none of these patients did not change their cognitive or mental state. .

"What we are looking at is an unrecognizable disease in terms of traditional polio symptoms in most cases," said Dr. Keith Van Harin, pediatric neurologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, in Neurology Today in 2014.

"It was really rare.

Before 2012, we saw one case every five years and were not attributed to West Nile virus.

Since 2012, we have seen many cases and during this summer, we saw more.

We do not currently know the warning of long-term illness.

The treatment varies from case to case and is usually focused on physical therapy to restore limb strength and other affected muscles.

The Minnesota Department of Health is now looking for common factors among Minnesota's six children, all under the age of 10, and asks parents to monitor for possible symptoms of cardiovascular disease in their children and to quickly control them if 39, one of them appears.

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• Prepared by: Kenan Al Marai.
• Check: Anas Haj Hassan.
• Editing: Issa Hazeem.
• Source