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CLEVELAND, OHIO – Recent cases of polio-like disease, called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), have been reported in 24 states of the United States of America.
On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the number of confirmed cases had now reached 72, while a total of 191 cases were under investigation. You can find the report (HERE)
According to Frank Esper, MD, a specialist in childhood infectious diseases at Cleveland Clinic Children's, experts have been following the AFM for several years and have seen a trend of increasing numbers of cases during the fall.
"We have been watching the AFM since about 2014," he said. "It's likely that this disease has been around for a while, but we only recognize it now. There are cases of MFA every year, often in the fall – usually in August, September and October.
Dr. Esper said the experts still learn about the AFM, but that it is known that it mainly affects children.
The AFM usually starts with a cold. While a normal cold is in progress, AFM develops later and causes muscle weakness on one or both sides of the body and usually affects the arms or legs.
Dr. Esper said the MFA can happen to any child in good health, but experts still do not know why some children develop it and others do not.
"I think one of the things that scares a lot of people is that they are normal and healthy children, who suddenly become very, very weak," he said. .
There is no specific treatment for AFM or antibiotics that can shorten the duration of the disease.
Dr. Esper stated that, typically, as the AFM develops, the initial cold virus is already over and the symptoms of weakness are likely due to the body's immune response to the initial virus.
He added that the best way to prevent AFM is to wash your hands, stay home in case of illness and cover up coughs and sneezes to prevent the transmission of germs.
Although some children need physical therapy and ongoing treatment to regain strength after MFA, Dr. Esper said the vast majority of children who develop the disease quickly heal on their own. chief.
"It's really one in a million when you look at how many times that happens, it's very, very rare," he said. "I think it's also very reassuring that a lot of these kids are doing very quickly – they're getting very, very fast – but most of them are improving very quickly."
Dr. Esper also pointed out that although AFM is commonly known as "polio-like" disease, it is not polio, it simply presents similar symptoms. AFM and polio are both caused by viral infections, but he added that American children were vaccinated against polio and that only a few pockets of people in the world were still infected with poliovirus, none of which were in the USA.
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