In a follow-up to a report about a number of cases of unexplained paralysis from Colorado, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an update to the national investigation of acute neurologic illness with focal limb weakness of unknown etiology in children Wednesday.
As of October 8, CDC has verified reports of 17 cases in 12 states that meet the case definition that follows: Patient ≤21 years of age, Acute onset of focal limb weakness, on or after August 1, 2014, AND an MRI showing a spinal cord lesion largely restricted to gray matter. The federal health agency says to be considered a case, a patient must meet ALL 4 of the aforementioned criteria.
They also report they are in the process of verifying dozens of additional reports. These investigations take time and are in the early stages; therefore, the number of cases will likely increase.
The CDC reported in late September that the United States is currently experiencing a nationwide outbreak of EV-D68 associated with severe respiratory disease. The possible linkage of this cluster of neurologic disease to this large EV-D68 outbreak is part of the current investigation.
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