PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) – An alert has gone out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for physicians to be looking for symptoms of a rare but serious disease called Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM.
It most commonly affects children. Symptoms may start with a cough or fever and quickly lead to a weakness or paralysis of the arms or legs.
UPMC Children’s is one of seven hospitals nationwide monitoring for the virus suspected of causing AFM.
“These are common cold and stomach viruses that all of us get all the time,” said Dr. John Williams, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s. “We don’t know, of all the children who get the viruses, why a few of them get AFM.”
The CDC says there is no cure. But intense occupational and physical therapy helps patients recover, which is why early detection is so important.
“Let’s all remember this is incredibly rare,” says Dr. Williams. “AFM, though it’s a serious illness, only affects about one in a million or fewer kids in the U.S.”