10 kids, some infected with Enterovirus D68, are exhibiting polio-like symptoms

This is a concern. As reported in the Washington Post and the Denver Post, 10 kids in Colorado have exhibited neurological symptoms including muscle weakness and partial paralysis that may in part be associated with the Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) outbreak that has infected thousands of children across the country.

According to Dr. Joyce Oleszek there "are no cases where the children are completely unable to move, just varying degrees of muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing, weakness in the neck and trunk, and difficulty walking." She also states "it [is] too early to know whether the paralysis is permanent."

In my previous post, I noted that Enterovirus D68 first appeared in California in 1962. Since then, it has rarely been reported in the U.S. However last year it may have been associated with two cases of a polio-like illness in California; polio virus belongs to the same virus family (picornavirus) as enterovirus. The above neurological symptoms are similar to the symptoms of polio, albeit less severe.

In both cases (enterovirus or poliovirus), the virus is causing myelitis, an infection or inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord. Doctors know that the Colorado children do not have polio because 8/9 have been vaccinated against polio and none have tested positive for polio virus. On the other hand, 4 have tested positive for EV-D68, while 4 others have rhinovirus or other enterovirus.

Medical officials are concerned about these neurological symptoms (Figure 1), but they are telling parents not to panic. There have been only a very small number of these polio-like cases compared to the vast number of total EV-D68 infections. For most kids, an EV-D68 infection will be no different than a typical summer cold. It is not known why in a few cases the virus is able to gain access to the central nervous system.

The CDC states that "parents should be alert to difficulty breathing or walking or weakness in a limb, regardless of whether there are respiratory symptoms." The myelitis can be confirmed by an MRI.

Most important of all do not panic.

Figure 1. Doctors in Colorado discuss the polio-like symptoms of 10 kids, but tell parents not to panic (Denver Post).