US Health Officials Alarmed by Paralyzing Illness in Kids

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

NEW YORK (AP) – A recent wave of cases of a mysterious paralyzing illness among children has waned. But U.S. health officials are accelerating their efforts to find a cause and a treatment.

In a medical journal article published Tuesday, some of the federal government’s top infectious disease scientists say the problem seems to be getting worse. They say additional, larger waves are likely.

Hundreds of U.S. families have already been affected. Children have lost the use of arms and legs and even the ability to swallow and breathe. Many continue to have trouble.

Scientists suspect the illness is being caused chiefly by a certain virus that was identified more than 55 years ago and may have mutated to become more dangerous. But they have yet to prove that.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 228 Americans last year were confirmed to have the illness, called acute flaccid myelitis.

More and more experts feel certain the main culprit is an enterovirus called EV-D68, based on the way waves of AFM have coincided with spikes of respiratory illnesses caused by EVD-68. Enteroviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which, such as polio, can damage the central nervous system, while many others cause mild symptoms or none at all.

In the U.S., doctors began reporting respiratory illnesses tied to EV-D68 in 1987, though usually no more than a dozen in any given year.