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CDC investigating more cases of polio-like syndrome
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-investigating-more-cases-polio-syndrome-n923041
Federal health officials said Monday they now have reports of 155 possible cases of acute flaccid myelitis, a polio-like syndrome that causes muscle weakness and paralysis.
The CDC and doctors across the country are braced for more cases of AFM, which seems to mostly affect children although it has also been reported in a handful of adults.
Although the CDC says its researchers still are not sure of a cause, the pattern of the reported cases strongly points to a virus, doctors say. The No. 1 suspect is a distant relative of polio called enterovirus D68 or EV-D68.
The CDC says it cannot say what is causing this pattern of disease. “We don’t know what caused the increase in AFM cases starting in 2014,” the CDC says on its website.
“We have not yet determined who is at higher risk for developing AFM, or the reasons why they may be at higher risk.”
It can take several weeks for cases to be reported and fully investigated.
The CDC urges parents to get kids to an emergency room quickly, and recommends that doctors have a high index of suspicion for AFM or another neurological disorder if a child has the following symptoms:
Difficulty moving the eyes or drooping eyelids
Facial droop or weakness
Difficulty with swallowing or slurred speech
Sudden arm or leg weakness
Adenovirus outbreak kills 6 children at N.J. health facility, sickens 12 others
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/adenovirus-wanaque-center-for-nursing-and-rehabilitation-new-jersey-outbreak-children/
A viral outbreak has left six children dead and 12 others sick at a New Jersey rehabilitation facility, health officials say. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, there have been 18 cases of adenovirus among pediatric residents at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, located in Haskell.
Adenoviruses are a family of ..
