Acute Flaccid Myelitis News and Research

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Clinical trial seeks to evaluate safety of new EV-D68 treatment

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is sponsoring a clinical trial to evaluate the safety of an investigational monoclonal antibody to treat enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), which can cause severe respiratory and neurological diseases such as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) – similar to polio. Scientists are striving to better understand AFM, which has emerged in the United States with spikes in cases every other year, primarily in the late-summer months over the last decade.

28 Jun 2024

Government seeks views on proposed changes to the Health Protection Notification Regulations 2010

The Health Protection Notification Regulations 2010 (HPNR) help us respond promptly to suspected cases of infectious disease that could have an impact on public health.

13 Jul 2023

Prevalence study uncovers rising threat: enterovirus D68 and acute flaccid myelitis link

Study evaluated the changes in the transmission of EV-D68 in England inferred from seroprevalence data.

23 Jun 2023

Both vaccine strain and adjuvant selection are critical elements for improving the breadth of protective immunity against enterovirus D68

Researchers demonstrated the production of cross-clade neutralizing antibodies in response to EV-D68.

19 May 2023

CDC Health Alert Network provides recommendations to manage the recent increase in severe respiratory illness among children

The US CDC’s HAN has provided certain recommendations to inform healthcare providers, infection control professionals, clinical laboratories, and public health departments about the recent increase in pediatric cases of severe respiratory illness in several regions of the USA.

14 Sep 2022

Exploring a paralytic poliomyelitis case in an unvaccinated person

Researchers investigated the public health response to a paralytic poliomyelitis case in an unvaccinated person.

19 Aug 2022

New evidence confirms that enterovirus D68 causes acute flaccid myelitis

A case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides evidence that enterovirus D68 directly infects spinal cord neurons and that a corresponding robust immune response is present – a direct causation to the polio-like paralyzing illness, acute flaccid myelitis (AFM).

26 May 2022

Scientists to develop highly sensitive antibody tests for infection caused by all coronaviruses

Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and SunYat-Sen University in China have set the stage for the development of highly sensitive antibody tests for infection with all known human coronaviruses, including new variants of SARS-CoV-2.

17 Feb 2021

CDC warns acute flaccid myelitis is poised for a comeback in kids this fall

As if the novel coronavirus pandemic was not enough! Now the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns parents and pediatricians to be on the watch for a rare condition called Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM for short, which could affect young children and cause unexplained muscle paralysis similar to poliomyelitis. Their report is published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

5 Aug 2020

Researchers isolate protective antibodies for rare, polio-like disease in children

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have isolated human monoclonal antibodies that potentially can prevent a rare but devastating polio-like illness in children linked to a respiratory viral infection.

3 Jul 2020

Stopping cold viruses dead by blocking replication

The common cold virus (and its more deadly cousins, the viruses that cause polio and acute flaccid myelitis) may just have met its nemesis. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Microbiology on September 16, 2019, scientists reported a potentially successful new approach to stop cold viruses from replicating inside human cells – by blocking the formation of a protein that is vital to this process.

17 Sep 2019

Stanford-UCSF researchers report new cure for common cold in human cells and mice

Temporarily disabling a single protein inside our cells might be able to protect us from the common cold and other viral diseases, according to a study led by researchers at Stanford University and University of California-San Francisco.

16 Sep 2019

Scientists point to enterovirus infection as cause for acute flaccid myelitis

Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the University of California San Diego report antibody evidence in cerebrospinal fluid that points to enterovirus infection as a cause for acute flaccid myelitis, a disease responsible for partially paralyzing more than 560 children in the United States since 2014. Results of the study appear in the journal mBio.

13 Aug 2019

Study provides evidence that enterovirus may be a factor in acute flaccid myelitis

A new study analyzing samples from patients with and without acute flaccid myelitis provides additional evidence for an association between the rare but often serious condition that causes muscle weakness and paralysis, and infection with non-polio enteroviruses.

13 Aug 2019

Johns Hopkins co-leads study on 'poliolike' condition affecting children

Johns Hopkins Medicine and University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers will lead a multicenter, multinational study of acute flaccid myelitis, the “poliolike” condition affecting children that causes loss of muscle control.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 25 Jul 2019

NIH contract awarded to UAB for acute flaccid myelitis natural history study

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham approximately $10 million over 5 years to study acute flaccid myelitis, a rare but serious condition which causes muscle weakness and paralysis.

23 Jul 2019

Puzzling paralysis affecting healthy children warns CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that a series of rare and difficult to treat cases of paralysis are being seen in otherwise healthy children since 2018. This outbreak is 2018 may soon make a comeback in 2020 the organization warns doctors and paediatricians. The report was published in the CDC’s Vital Signs this week.

11 Jul 2019

TGen identifies polio-like virus as potential cause of Acute Flaccid Myelitis outbreak

The Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope, has identified a polio-like virus as a potential cause of an outbreak of a disease known as Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a crippling condition that causes muscle weakness and paralysis usually among children.

23 Jan 2019

Nerve transfer surgery restores arm movement in children with acute flaccid myelitis

An innovative and complex surgery involving nerve transfers is restoring hope and transforming lives torn apart by a mysterious and devastating illness. Acute flaccid myelitis, also known as AFM, strikes without warning, shows no mercy and frequently results in paralysis.

15 Jan 2019

Clearer diagnosis of polio-like illness in young children

Johns Hopkins researchers have analyzed patient data from 45 cases of what they thought was acute flaccid myelitis, the polio-like outbreak occurring in U.S. children, and realized that only 75 percent of diagnosed cases were AFM.

4 Dec 2018