Jeremy Wilcox of Herndon asked his local news channel to tell people what had happened to his four-year-old son Joey.

With acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), Joey is paralyzed in the neck as a result of a polio-like illness, a disease that affects the nervous system, especially the gray matter of the spinal cord.

"Joey fell with a fever that quickly paralyzed his neck," his father Jeremy Wilcox told ABC7 News-WJLA.

Health departments across the country, including the Virginia Department of Health, report that the disease is difficult to diagnose and lacks effective treatment and curative treatment.

"We have not managed to find the cause of the majority of MFA cases," said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "The AFM can be caused by other viruses such as enteroviruses and West Nile virus, as well as by environmental toxins and autoimmune diseases."

The CDC reported 22 cases in 2015, 149 cases in 2016, 33 cases in 2017 and 273 suspected cases for 2018, including 106 confirmed cases in 29 states. According to the CDC, more than 90% of patients are young children.

"We are actually looking at everything.We are looking beyond the normal infectious diseases that can cause that," said Messonnier.

According to the state health commissioner, Norman Oliver, the health department sent letters to health professionals throughout the state to report any signs of MFA, and on November 8, the Virginia Department of Health documented that they had received reports of children's AFM symptoms and signs.

Oliver wrote in the report that even though the AFM is not listed as a disease that needs to be reported to the Ministry of Health, it is a public health problem which must be reported.

Brooks told ABC7 News that his son Joey is growing stronger since he fell with a fever that led to paralysis.

"He is working on his superior mobility, he has a weakness," Brooks told ABC7 News. "He can still suck a straw."

In addition to Joey's case, 11-month-old Ryan Brooks of Stafford County also suffers from the rare disease that resembles polio. Brooks was initially diagnosed at the Children's Hospital of the King's daughter in Washington, D.C.

Ryan's father, Donald Brooks, told Free-Lance Star that the family had contracted the virus a month before his son caught a cold, a cough, and a mild fever turning into paralysis, indicating that Ryan had developed an illness similar to polio.

Before Ryan showed signs of limb weakness, his parents told Free-lance Star that they had taken him to the pediatrician, who had told him that he had probably been infected with one of the viruses.

When Ryan 's mother, Valerie Brooks, noticed that he was not using his right leg while he was crawling, she thought that he was maybe tired of "staining". Be sick. When he could not get up in his cradle, his mother and she touched his leg without any response from him.

"We want parents to know that if they detect weakness in a limb, it's a big red flag," Donald Brooks told the Free-Lance Star newspaper, adding that they should immediately see a doctor.

On October 17, they took him to the nearest emergency care facility, where the attending physician recommended that Ryan consult a neurologist to perform additional tests. He was then transported by ambulance to the children's hospital.

Ryan worsened in the following days as paralysis spread throughout his body and the hospital put the baby in isolation until they could make a diagnosis.

"It looked like a jelly bag," said Valerie Brooks at Star Free-Lance. "None of his muscles engaged."

Ryan has been treated with antibiotics, steroids and intravenous immunoglobulins. He was hospitalized for 20 days in Washington, then at the King's Daughter's Hospital in Norfolk for intense physical therapy, parents told Free-Lance Star.

A doctor can tell the difference between AFM and other diseases by carefully examining the nervous system and examining the location of weakness, muscle tone and reflexes. MRIs are useful for diagnosing MFA cases and laboratory tests are needed to confirm the virus that causes the disease.

"We could not find the cause of the majority of MFA cases and we are frustrated at not being able to identify the cause of the disease," said Messonnier.

The CDC is also exploring other causes of AFM, including environmental toxins and genetic disorders.

More: AFM polio-like cases are increasing. What can you do to protect your family?

According to the CDC, there is no specific treatment for the AFM, but a doctor specializing in the treatment of diseases of the brain and spinal cord can recommend interventions on a case-by-case basis, such as therapy physical or professional to relieve the weakness of an arm or a leg. caused by the disease.

As of November 26, nine other suspected AFM cases have been reported to the Virginia Department of Health and are currently under investigation. By code and policy, the health department can not discuss details of individual cases.

In a CNN report, parents of children in whom AFM had been diagnosed accused the CDC of hiding the deaths of two children to intentionally minimize the severity of the disease.

"I have the impression that they are just messing it all up," Katie Bustamante told CNN, whose son, Alex, died in May. "It eliminates my confidence in the CDC."

The press officer contacted the central health district of Shenandoah to find out if cases have been reported locally and will update the story as more and more information becomes available.

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Monique Calello can be contacted at the address [email protected].

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