Alan Bavley

Kansas City Star

Federal health officials are investigating illnesses with paralysis-like symptoms among children in Missouri, Colorado and Virginia that may be related to the outbreak of severe respiratory infections that has swept the nation.

Three cases of the neurologic illnesses have been reported by Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, 10 by Children's Hospital Colorado in the Denver area and one by the Virginia Department of Health in the northern part of the state.

Common to the cases has been weakness in the children's limbs that ranges in severity. Some children have mild weakness in their arms and legs; others are in intensive care, needing help breathing and eating.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking all state and local health departments to report similar cases as it investigates possible causes, including a potential link to the summer respiratory disease outbreak.

Michigan health officials confirmed Tuesday that a Washtenaw County child infected with the respiratory and stomach virus had developed temporary paralysis. Officials with the Michigan Department of Community Health said Tuesday that the agency has been notified by the CDC that 25 patients so far are positive for the virus.

The neurologic illnesses started appearing in August, about the same time as the first cases of respiratory illnesses caused by enterovirus D68. The enterovirus outbreak was first identified in Chicago and Kansas City in August. Since then, 472 people in 41 states have been confirmed to have EV-D68 illnesses, according to the CDC. Because relatively few laboratory tests are run, the number who have been ill from the virus is likely many times higher.

Most of the Missouri and Colorado children who've had neurologic illnesses also had colds or fevers with respiratory symptoms in the two weeks before their arms and legs weakened.

But just four of the 10 Colorado children with neurologic illnesses tested positive for EV-D68, with lab results still pending on two others. And none of the Missouri children has had EV-D68 infections.

Much remains to be discovered about the neurologic illnesses, Jackson said. Rehabilitation can be arduous, so it may take weeks to months before doctors know how well the children recover.

The risks of developing the paralysis-like illnesses are still unknown because it isn't yet clear how often children are exposed to their cause without having such severe symptoms.

With respiratory infections so common and the neurologic illnesses still so rare, Jackson said parents should not be too concerned when their children start to cough or sneeze.