CDC says mystery illness cases higher this year
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6 سال پیش
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(10 Dec 2018) This year
(10 Dec 2018) This year has seen a record number of reported cases of a mysterious paralyzing illness in children.
It's still not clear what's causing the kids to lose the ability to move their face, neck, back, arms or legs.
The symptoms tend to occur about a week after the children had a fever and respiratory illness.
No one has died from the rare disease this year, but it was blamed for one death last year and it may have caused other in the past.
But CDC officials say the numbers are higher this year.
"It's a little bit higher than last year, the last peak year in 2016 and in 2014. It may be a real but small increases in cases, but it probably also reflects better surveillance. We're working hard to get the word out to parents, to providers and to health departments to report cases and investigate," says Dr. Thomas Clark, Director, CDC Division of Viral Diseases.
What's more, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say many children have lasting paralysis.
Some also have serious complications: Close to half the kids diagnosed with it this year were admitted to hospital intensive care units and hooked up to machines to help them breathe.
The condition has been likened to polio, a dreaded paralyzing illness that once struck tens of thousands of U.S. children a year.
Investigators of the current outbreak have ruled out polio, finding no evidence of that virus in recent cases.
The condition is called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. Investigators have suspected it is caused by a virus called EV-D68.
But there is disagreement about that. Waves of AFM and that virus haven't coincided in other years, and testing is not finding the virus in every case.
Another mystery: More than 17 countries have reported scattered AFM cases, but none have seen cyclical surges like the U.S. has.
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It's still not clear what's causing the kids to lose the ability to move their face, neck, back, arms or legs.
The symptoms tend to occur about a week after the children had a fever and respiratory illness.
No one has died from the rare disease this year, but it was blamed for one death last year and it may have caused other in the past.
But CDC officials say the numbers are higher this year.
"It's a little bit higher than last year, the last peak year in 2016 and in 2014. It may be a real but small increases in cases, but it probably also reflects better surveillance. We're working hard to get the word out to parents, to providers and to health departments to report cases and investigate," says Dr. Thomas Clark, Director, CDC Division of Viral Diseases.
What's more, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say many children have lasting paralysis.
Some also have serious complications: Close to half the kids diagnosed with it this year were admitted to hospital intensive care units and hooked up to machines to help them breathe.
The condition has been likened to polio, a dreaded paralyzing illness that once struck tens of thousands of U.S. children a year.
Investigators of the current outbreak have ruled out polio, finding no evidence of that virus in recent cases.
The condition is called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. Investigators have suspected it is caused by a virus called EV-D68.
But there is disagreement about that. Waves of AFM and that virus haven't coincided in other years, and testing is not finding the virus in every case.
Another mystery: More than 17 countries have reported scattered AFM cases, but none have seen cyclical surges like the U.S. has.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: Twitter: AP_Archive
Facebook: Facebook: APArchives
Instagram: Instagram: APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
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