A respiratory virus that can paralyze children, much like polio, is spreading in the U.S., wastewater samples show. The virus – an enterovirus called EV-D68 – is known to affect the nervous system, causing severe weakness in the arms and legs called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), especially in children.
Wastewater samples from across the country show increasing levels of the virus, which could signal a potential increase in AFM cases in the U.S. this year. September is known to be the biggest month for AFM diagnoses.
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Enteroviruses are one of the most common types of virus in the U.S. Most of the time, this group of viruses causes mild symptoms like a runny nose, cough and headache.
However, during the last major spike in the D68 strain in 2014, the U.S. saw an increase in children getting AFM, with 120 cases diagnosed that year. Doctors say there is no cure or specific treatment for paralysis caused by AFM, but intensive physical therapy has been shown to help.
Since the CDC began its monitoring in 2014, it said AFM cases have spiked in an every-other-year pattern, with more people infected in 2016 and 2018 than 2015 and 2017.
That pattern was broken in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
While D68 cases did surge again in 2022, there was not a correlating rise in AFM cases. Still, doctors say there is cause for concern. So far in 2024, 13 cases of AFM have been confirmed.
