Virus Linked To Mysterious Disease That Weakens Children's Limbs

A paper published in the journal Pediatrics examines the cause of a mysterious childhood illness. It strikes young children and leads to limb weakness and paralysis.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

What is the cause of a mysterious childhood illness? This illness affects younger kids. It leads to limb weakness and paralysis. A new paper in the journal Pediatrics asks why and links this disease to a virus. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: For kids who are hit with acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM for short, it comes on quickly. It usually starts with run-of-the-mill virus symptoms, such as a runny nose, a cough and fever. But then, in a terrifying turn, kids lose control of their limbs. That's what Susan Coyne, the mom of a boy named Evan, experienced.

SUSAN COYNE: Evan lost arm and legs. He could not move them. He couldn't lift them. He couldn't walk.

AUBREY: He was 7 at the time. He spent a year and a half in intensive rehab, learning how to walk and move his arms again.

COYNE: It was really scary, especially when, you know, this first started, no one knew what it was.

AUBREY: Researchers have now learned more about AFM. Here's Janell Routh of the CDC.

JANELL ROUTH: We know that AFM can be caused by multiple different things. But this paper really focuses in on viral cause.

AUBREY: In particular, a virus known as enterovirus D68. It turns out, during years when there's a lot of EV-D68 circulating in the U.S. - which tends to be every other year - there are also more cases of AFM.

ROUTH: And we're sort of seeing this trend in EV-D68 that mimics the trend in AFM.

AUBREY: Identifying a potential viral trigger is helpful, but enteroviruses, including EV-D68, are pretty common.

ROUTH: They are around all the time, and they cause lots of viral illnesses.

AUBREY: So it's not clear why a few hundred kids out of the many, many more exposed go on to develop AFM. Routh says that's still a mystery. Eventually, there could be a vaccine, but for now, she says, it's important for parents to know the symptoms.

ROUTH: If they notice limb weakness in their child or that facial droop, it's very important they see their physician right away.

AUBREY: Susan Coyne's son Evan has made a full recovery. He's back to playing baseball, living a full life. But there's a wide spectrum. Some kids with AFM are in wheelchairs and remain paralyzed.

Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.