She woke up and could not move her legs: an inside look at the rare disease that was rife in the United States

PARKER, Colorado – When 22-year-old Hannah McNeill fell asleep one night in August earlier this year, she did not know that her life was going to be radically changed. She woke up, could not move her legs and was eventually diagnosed with a rare polio-like illness that is now on the rise in Colorado.

"You never think it would happen to you if you do not prepare," she told KMGH.

Acute flaccid myelitis is a disease of the spine caused by a form of enterovirus. It is extremely rare and usually affects children, causing loss of sensitivity and use of the arms or legs. This can leave children with permanent paralysis.

"I was trying to move my toes and my feet and nothing would happen," she explained. "I knew what I wanted to do but I could not get up, I could not take a step."

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said that 11 of these cases were positive for enterovirus A71, a positive for enterovirus D68 and two negative for any type of infection. ; enteroviruses.

"Although all the patients were hospitalized, they are almost completely cured, and there have been no deaths," Shannon Barbare, CDPHE, said in a statement.

But McNeill is still not fully recovered.

"I still do not have all the strength of my legs, that's why I'm in a wheelchair," she said.

"There is no vaccination or specific treatment against enterovirus." People with mild illness usually only need treatment, except for symptoms, " said Barbarian in a statement. "However, some diseases caused by EV-A71 and EV-D68 may be severe enough to require hospitalization."

Colorado has already had outbreaks of less common types of enteroviruses. The enterovirus D68 has sickened 11 people with AFM. The A71 enterovirus caused outbreaks similar to those of this year in 2003 and 2005, said the CDPHE.

The CDC has a web page dedicated to AFM. It is said that most patients with the disease are children and that scientists have not yet determined the presence of a single pathogen detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients who causes AFM.

But in the case of McNeill, she said that she was not finished resuming a normal life. She undergoes physical therapy three times a week and has progressed in the weeks following her discharge from the hospital.

"Two months ago, I could not walk, now I can in my walker," she said. "I have to stand up, I have a horse to ride in. I have hair to do.I have so much life to live that it's not going to stop right now."