Rare AFM Disease Cases Treated At Peoria Hospital

PEORIA, IL — A doctor at OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois and the University of Illinois College of Medicine - Peoria is commenting on the increase of acute Flaccid myelitis (AFM) within the last four years in the state, including two cases and a suspected third case treated this year at the children's hospital, CIProud reported. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AFM affects the gray matter of the spinal cord and can lead to respiratory failure, paralysis, and even death.

So far in 2018, there are 62 confirmed cases and dozens more suspected, within 22 states across the country, including Illinois.

“We have seen a surge of Acute Flaccid Myelitis in 2016 as well as in 2014," Dr. Sreenivas Avula of OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois and the University of Illinois College of Medicine - Peoria said, according to CIProud's report.

Patch recently reported doctors are still struggling to understand the rare illness, which affects roughly 1 in a million people and first appeared in the U.S. in 2014. Between August 2014 through August 2018, the CDC has confirmed more than 362 cases of AFM across the country, including two girls, one from Batavia and another from Chesterton, Indiana, who have also been diagnosed and hospitalized with the illness.

More: Indiana Girl Among Those Battling Rare Polio-Like Illness

Symptoms of AFM can resemble the flu at first, with patients experiencing leg and arm weakness and difficulty moving their eyes. Later symptoms are similar to polio, including facial drooping and difficulty speaking and swallowing. According to the CDC, some causes of AFM may include West Nile virus and poliovirus, but they're still searching for more answers. Genetic disorders and "environmental toxins" may also trigger AFM, but for some patients a cause is never determined, CDC says.

More information: cdc.gov/acute-flaccid-myelitis

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