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October 22 (UPI) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday they were investigating 28 new cases of rare neurological disease in the United States, called acute flaccid myelitis.
A total of 62 cases of the disease, which mainly affects children and can cause paralysis, have been confirmed and the CDC is investigating 155 cases in 22 states, up from 127 last week.
"The CDC is actively investigating AFM cases and monitoring the activity of the disease," said the agency. "We are working closely with health care providers and state and local health departments to raise awareness of the AFM."
The CDC indicated that it also tested samples, including stool, blood and cerebrospinal fluid, on suspected AFM cases, and worked with health care providers, health services, decision makers, the public and other partners to gather information on this state.
Last week, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that 90% of cases involved children aged 18 and under, on average, 4 years old, and no deaths related to this disease have been reported. this year.
The CDC observed an increase in the number of AFM cases in 2014 after confirming 120 from August to December, coinciding with a national outbreak of severe respiratory disease caused by the enterovirus D68.
"Since August 2014, the CDC has seen a growing number of people with AFM.We have not confirmed the cause of the majority of these cases," said the agency. "The CDC is actively investigating these cases of MFA and we continue to receive information on suspicious cases of MAF."
The CDC has confirmed 22 cases in 2015, 149 cases in 2016 and 33 cases in 2017, although it's about the exact cause of the disease and people at increased risk of developing an AFM and why they have not been confirmed.
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