There is mass news hovering around that the children from North Dakota, Chicago, and other remote places have contracted a serious rare illness that causes paralysis and weakness over the whole body. The source from Department of Health state that there hasn’t been a lot of research with AFM, because it isn’t very common said Brenton Nesemeier, a field epidemiologist. Till September 2018, according to CDC, 386 confirmed case of AFM has been reported, and investigation is in process on these rare diseases. So far in 2018, the federal agency has detected 62 confirmed cases with 128 suspected in 22 states.
Now the question is what exactly this flaccid myelitis is? “It is not at all clear what causes AFM”, said Dr. Leslie Benson, Assistant Director of the neuro-immunology of Boston Children’s Hospital. “Most likely it is observed as a viral infection”, she added. The diseases infect the spinal column or in the brain stem which causes paralysis and weakness. “The main treatment is supportive and there is not a specific treatment that helps the causes of this condition”, Dr. Benson said, “if the patient gets pain, we treat for pain and gave them a lot of therapy and if they can’t breathe we use a ventilator”.
As per the news, the following are the symptom of the disease: Neck weakness and stiffness, eyelids and facial droop, difficult to swallow and slurred speech. “Mostly the disease attacks dozen of children during the month of August, September, and late October” Benson told in the media. The more investigation is going on this issue and the researcher is yet to find its vaccine. The diseases may be on the rise as it is extremely rare, affecting millions of lives. For prevention of this illness, the NDDoH advises covering your cough or sneeze, to wash hands frequently, to stay at home if you are sick and to stay up to date on vaccination.
