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Source: https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=277136
Autopsy Helps Confirm Cause of Mysterious Paralyzing Illness in Kids
By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 26, 2022 (HealthDay News)
Researchers may finally have definitive proof of what's caused recent outbreaks of a rare polio-like illness in U.S. children: a respiratory virus that is usually harmless.
The condition, called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), attacks tissue in the spinal cord, causing muscles and reflexes to weaken suddenly. In some cases, it also impairs breathing muscles, forcing patients to go on a ventilator.
Since 2014, the United States has seen mysterious spikes in AFM cases, almost all in young children. Experts have thought that a viral infection is the driver, with a respiratory virus called enterovirus D68 being the prime suspect.
Now, researchers say, they have the strongest evidence yet that the virus is indeed to blame: They found genetic material from EV-D68 in spinal cord cells from a child who died of AFM.
Experts said the findings -- published May 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine -- will help researchers direct their efforts. To develop any specific antiviral drug or a vaccine against AFM, they need to know which virus to target...
Autopsy Helps Confirm Cause of Mysterious Paralyzing Illness in Kids
By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 26, 2022 (HealthDay News)
Researchers may finally have definitive proof of what's caused recent outbreaks of a rare polio-like illness in U.S. children: a respiratory virus that is usually harmless.
The condition, called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), attacks tissue in the spinal cord, causing muscles and reflexes to weaken suddenly. In some cases, it also impairs breathing muscles, forcing patients to go on a ventilator.
Since 2014, the United States has seen mysterious spikes in AFM cases, almost all in young children. Experts have thought that a viral infection is the driver, with a respiratory virus called enterovirus D68 being the prime suspect.
Now, researchers say, they have the strongest evidence yet that the virus is indeed to blame: They found genetic material from EV-D68 in spinal cord cells from a child who died of AFM.
Experts said the findings -- published May 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine -- will help researchers direct their efforts. To develop any specific antiviral drug or a vaccine against AFM, they need to know which virus to target...
