CDC Asks for Increased Vigilance as Peak AFM Season Approaches

As the investigation into the regular outbreaks of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) continue, the CDC is asking for increased vigilance among health care providers who see patients with acute onset of flaccid limb weakness in the summer and fall.  

The condition first appeared in 2014, appearing concurrently with a large outbreak of respiratory illness caused by enterovirus D-68. Since then, an outbreak of AFM has occurred every 2 years in the US.

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Overall, 374 cases of AFM were reported in the US from January through December 2018, 233 of which were classified as confirmed cases, 26 of which were classified as probable, and 115 as non-AFM cases. Multiple enterovirus/rhinovirus types were identified in 44% of the confirmed cases. The time between onset of limb weakness and reporting to CDC during 2018 ranged from 18 to 36 days.

“Improving the understanding of AFM is a public health priority. The overall rarity of this condition and absence of a confirmatory test highlight the need for increased vigilance among providers seeing pediatric patients with acute onset of flaccid limb weakness in the late summer and fall. Ongoing national AFM surveillance will provide an important bridge between research and public health response and will be critical for the development of optimal treatment and prevention recommendations,” they concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Vital Signs: Surveillance for acute flaccid myelitis – United States 2019 [press release]. Lopez A, Lee A, Guo A, et al. MMWR. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6827e1.htm.