Washington Boy Dies Of Mysterious Polio-Like Illness

A 6-year-old Washington boy passed away on September 30th from a concerning disease that has symptoms similar to polio.

When Daniel Ramirez came down with cold-like symptoms, his parents assumed it was just the common cold but after he developed slurred speech, drooling, incontinence, and pain in his leg, they took him to the hospital.

This was on October 15. Two weeks later, Ramirez had passed away from a rare virus called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which attacks the brain and the spinal cord. Perhaps the most alarming part in the number of cases sweeping their way across the country.

AFM was first identified in 2014 when it affected more than 100 children who ended up in the hospital. Many have yet to fully recover. Despite its best efforts, the medical community has not fully figured out what causes the disease or how to treat it.

The CDC has issued a report warning parents of the surge of cases and the number affected thus far. Experts fear a worse outbreak could be on the rise.

Acute flaccid myelitis is a rare but serious condition. Parents need to be aware, know the symptoms, and get to a doctor at any hint of alarm.

“The key with AFM is that its sudden onset,” said Dr. Manisha Patel, AFM team lead at the CDC and a practicing pediatrician. “Symptoms include limb weakness, facial drooping and difficulty swallowing and talking.”

“AFM is an illness that can be seen with a variety of different causes. The most famous one is polio, but there are also enteroviruses, which are circulating very broadly in the US and other countries.”

“It’s important to understand that there’s a broad spectrum of severity of this disease,”s aid Dr. Kevin Messacar, a pediatric infectious disease physician and researcher at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “On one end, you see mild weakness in one extremity. On the other, you’ve got children who have lost the ability to breathe on their own and exhibit complete paralysis in their arms and legs.”

Parents, does news of this virus scare you? Tell us in the comments and please SHARE with other concerned parents who need to know the symptoms of AFM.

 

[Featured Image: GoFundMe]

Washington Boy Dies Of Mysterious Polio-Like Illness is an article from: LifeDaily