Prognosis
Mystery Child Virus Stirs Fresh U.S. Concern on Possible Return
- Previously healthy kids lose muscle strength, are paralyzed
- Condition often strike children around age 5, officials say
Enterovirus-D68
Source: Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Yiting Zhang/CDC via APThis article is for subscribers only.
Government health officials are urging U.S. doctors to be on the lookout for a mysterious condition that has begun to re-emerge in late summer and early fall, targeting healthy young children and leaving them paralyzed.
The first sign of what scientists are calling acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, occurred in 2014, amid an outbreak of a severe respiratory infection caused by the EV-D68 virus. Most of the affected children were healthy until an infection caused fever or cold symptoms about a week before they started losing muscle strength, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been about 570 cases to date.