UPDATE | Case of paralyzing polio-like illness found in West Virginia - WSAZ-TV
UPDATE | Case of paralyzing polio-like illness found in West Virginia - WSAZ-TV |
- UPDATE | Case of paralyzing polio-like illness found in West Virginia - WSAZ-TV
- Possible Link Between Virus And Acute Flaccid Myelitis, The 'Polio-Like' Disease - WVXU
- Number of confirmed cases of polio-like disease in West Virginia holds at one - WV MetroNews - West Virginia MetroNews
| UPDATE | Case of paralyzing polio-like illness found in West Virginia - WSAZ-TV Posted: 29 Apr 2019 03:42 PM PDT HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- UPDATE 4/29/19 @ 6:30 p.m.  The illness is called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, and is a very serious condition. It affects the nervous system, specifically the part of the spinal cord that affects a person's movement. It causes muscles in the body to become weak. The illness can cause paralyzing symptoms, and in some cases paralysis has been permanent. "It is something that happens quickly, that's what acute means," said Dr. Mitzi Payne, professor of Pediatric Neurology with Marshall University. "A child or person becomes very weak. It comes from an issue with the spinal cord. What happens is there is gray matter in the spinal cord that are these neurons that control your muscle movements, that is what is affected. Because those are affected, the patient becomes weak." Health officials don't know what specifically causes AFM, or what triggers it, however, they believe viruses likely play a role. Some of the symptoms of AFM include:
Most of the cases of AFM have been reported in children. "Children are sick more than adults anyway typically, so they are more likely to get viruses," Dr. Payne said. "Their immune systems aren't as strong as adults, especially neurologically, so they are more susceptible to this." So far in 2019, cases have been confirmed in four states: Nebraska, North Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. In 2018, 228 cases of AFM were confirmed in the U.S. There is no specific treatment for AFM, but doctors can develop a plan for patients on a case-by-case basis. Since doctors have not been able to determine what specifically causes AFM, there is no prevention method. However, to avoid other viruses that may trigger it, they urge everyone to wash their hands and get vaccinated. "There is no need to panic because it is very, very rare," Payne said. "The viruses that are thought to cause this, the viruses themselves are contagious, but that doesn't mean that everyone with that virus would get AFM." Researchers are still working to better understand AFM, what causes it and how to treat it. In most cases, those who developed AFM had a mild respiratory illness or fever consistent with a viral infection before they developed AFM. "For me the most concerning thing is not really knowing what virus is exactly causing it or predicting what child with that virus will have acute flaccid myelitis," Dr. Payne said. "We know it's a higher risk in younger children, it's more commonly seen in Enterovirus and West Nile, but there are other viruses that cause it. So as a medical provider, the nerve-wracking part is the fact that we don't truly understand why and how it does occur so we can do a better job preventing it." The last two cases of AFM in West Virginia were reported in 2016. ORIGINAL STORY 4/29/19 The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has confirmed a case of a polio-like illness that can cause paralyzing symptoms and prove fatal. The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports this is the first confirmed case in the state this year and only the third since the state began tracking the illness in 2014. The agency did not disclose any information on the patient or the patient's location. The disease affects the spinal cord and brain stem. It can cause full paralysis within seven days, and complete recovery is uncommon. This is one of several cases of acute flaccid myelitis confirmed across the country this year; Nebraska, North Carolina and Utah also have confirmed cases. There were 228 confirmed cases nationwide last year.  |
| Possible Link Between Virus And Acute Flaccid Myelitis, The 'Polio-Like' Disease - WVXU Posted: 29 Apr 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Six months after rushing her 4-year-old to Cincinnati Children's with sudden paralysis, Alex Voland says Elijah is making progress but still struggles to move his right leg. He was diagnosed in October with a rare disease called acute flaccid myelitis. Its cause is unknown though researchers may have found a link. Heidi Moline, M.D., chief pediatrics resident at the University of Minnesota, announced earlier this month she's identified a link between acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) and the virus enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). EV-D68 was found in spinal fluid of one of six patients with confirmed cases of AFM. Symptoms of AFM include rapid onset of muscle weakness and paralysis, leading to concerning headlines about a mysterious "polio-like" disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched an investigation in 2014 after identifying a surge in AFM diagnoses. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center are part of the team. "What CDC and others are trying to do is really link those two in a definitive manner," says Paul Spearman, M.D., director of infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children's. "The evidence is strongly suggestive but not definitive that EV-D68 is the responsible virus." Spearman is cautious about the recent findings, saying more studies are needed. "The current (CDC) study is an ongoing study ... We probably won't have the best answer to this this year. It's going to take longer than that to define the cause of the upsurge in cases of acute flaccid myelitis." Statistics show show the disease following a two-year epidemic curve, meaning there will likely be fewer cases this fall. The number of confirmed cases fell in 2015 following the initial 2014 surge, then increased and decreased again in 2016 and 2017 before the 2018 spike that put AFM in the media spotlight last fall. That every-other-year cycle does point to an epidemiological link between AFM and an enterovirus. "We know some enteroviruses have every two to three year cycles like this, and one of them that does that is EV-D68," Spearman says. He says parents should be educated about AFM but not panicked. "This is still rare. Less than two per million per year of kids in the U.S. [get AFM] is what the CDC says," he points out. Symptoms According the Cincinnati Children's, symptoms generally begin several days after a child exhibit signs of a cold.
If AFM is viral, the best way to protect against it is practicing standard precautions such as proper hand-washing, avoiding those who are ill, and staying home if you're ill, as well as getting children vaccinated against the flu. If your child's cold symptoms don't improve after seven to 10 days, contact your physician.  |
| Posted: 30 Apr 2019 07:46 AM PDT CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Nearly a month has passed since the Bureau for Public Health in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources first issued a Health Alert about a confirmed case of Acute Flaccid Myelitis, a polio-like disease, in West Virginia. As of Tuesday morning, no additional cases were being reported following what was the first such notice for the Mountain State since 2016. "This is very rare," said Dr. Mary "Mitzi" Payne, a Marshall Health professor of neurology, of the condition that affects the nervous system.  Dr. Mary "Mitzi" PayneIt's characterized by the sudden onset of weakness in one or more limbs starting with cells in the spinal cord's gray matter that control motor movement. "Acute Flaccid Myelitis comes after a virus. We're not really sure if it's directly from the virus or if it's a result of how the body reacts by the immune system to the virus," Payne explained. "It's from relatively common viruses, but we don't really understand why many people can get the virus but only a very, very few get the Flaccid Myelitis." The Bureau for Public Health's alert did not specify where the single West Virginia case had been reported. So far this year, it's one of four confirmed cases nationally along with those in Utah, Nebraska and North Carolina, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recognized AFM as a syndrome in 2014 and launched health surveillance amid increased reports of acute limb weakness. As a precaution, state health officials were telling clinicians to remain vigilant about Acute Flaccid Myelitis among all age groups, including children. "In children, sometimes weakness can be more like clumsiness, falling. It could be dropping objects that they're holding in their hands. We can also see weakness of the respiratory muscles, so if they seem to have a hard time breathing shallow breaths," Payne said. "Chewing muscles can be affected, so if they're chewing food and choking easily — anything that's a change from their usual." Under the West Virginia Reportable Disease Rule, any suspected cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis must be reported to local health departments immediately.  |
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