CDC warns of debilitating neurological condition outbreak in children amid coronavirus pandemic

Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) causes muscle weakness and paralysis

(AFP via Getty Images)

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned parents about a life-threatening neurological condition in children that could surge again this autumn.

Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) typically starts with a child experiencing cold-like symptoms. The neurological disease, which has symptoms similar to polio, then can escalate with no warning to cause muscle weakness and paralysis.

About 90 per cent of AFM cases occur in young children and there is currently no cure.

According to the CDC, outbreaks for AFM have happened every other year, so it anticipated another one this fall among children.

In 2018, Camden Stravers of Grimes Iowa, suddenly lost the ability to lift his head up, move his right arm, or walk, WTAE reported. Doctors diagnosed him with AFM for his symptoms.

Since then, Camden has made strides with his diagnosis by attending physical therapy and receiving nerve replacement surgery so he would be able to bend his right arm. But he still struggles with moving his head and arms.

“He still has definitely a risk of falling and then not being able to support himself,” Kelli Stravers, Camden’s mother, said.

“It is a true medical emergency, and people need to take it seriously and take their kids to the hospital,” she added.

Thousands of children and parents were given the same news in 2018 that their child was diagnosed with AFM.

Quinton Hill was eight in 2018 when he experienced cold and flu-like symptoms while attending church. One week later, the child was unable to move his left arm, ABC News reported.

"That’s the first time that we heard the term AFM," James Hill, Quinton’s father, said. "I literally didn’t sleep that night. I Googled a lot of stuff and tried to figure out next steps and whatnot. And it was all unknown ... no known cure. No known treatment. Don’t know how it spreads."

Quinton has since had multiple surgeries to regain movement in his left side. While these surgeries have helped, the child still struggles with moving his limbs. 

"Just the day that he can raise both arms and give me a two-armed hug ... that’ll be a happy day, right?” Mr Hill said. "So, anything we can do to give him some normalcy, to where he can be able to be as functional as possible, is kind of the goal, right?"

The CDC formed a task force in 2014 to study the disease. The group discovered the disease emerges in greater numbers every two years, with each outbreak worse than the last one.

This year, the group has already reported 16 cases of AFM in 10 states and the District of Columbia. One person has died this year during the acute phases of the disease.

Health experts have sounded the alarm for this fall season, as the disease has previously been linked to other viruses children had at the time, like the flu.

Dr Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and Children’s Health who is also on the CDC task force, told ABC News the coronavirus could play a part in the anticipated outbreak this year.

"This season is going to be unlike any other because of what we're seeing with the Covid-19 pandemic," he said. "One of our concerns is that with all of the focus on it, as kiddos come to our emergency rooms with respiratory problems, everybody is testing for the coronavirus. But we have to test for other viruses as well. So, in this case, we are reminding our colleagues across the country to not just test for coronavirus but to look for enteroviruses and other respiratory infections that could be related to AFM."