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By Maggie Fox
At least 116 people, mostly children, have been confirmed by a polio-like disease called acute flaccid myelitis, health officials said Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to investigate 286 cases of MFA, making 2018 a busy year for poorly understood cases.
"So far in 2018, there are 116 confirmed cases of MFA in 31 states," said the CDC in its latest update.
The CDC says that it still has no confirmed cause at the AFM, which is characterized by muscle weakness or paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. But the damage is of the type often caused by viruses. Although the majority of patients have not tested positive for a specific virus, a family of viruses called enteroviruses is the main suspect – especially one called EV-D68.
Enteroviruses frequently circulate in autumn and winter and although they rarely cause more severe symptoms than a cold, they can cause complications in rare cases.
The CDC noted a trend every two years in MFA cases, with 120 confirmed cases in 2014, 22 cases in 2015, 149 cases in 2016 and 33 in 2017.
"Respiratory diseases and fever resulting from viral infections such as enteroviruses are common, especially in children, and most people recover. We do not know why a small number of patients develop AFM, while most others heal, "said the CDC.
Possible explanations include a direct attack of the nerves by the virus, an immune response that affects the nerves or genetic susceptibility in some patients.
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