A mysterious illness called acute flaccid myelitis has doctors scratching their heads as it continues to sicken children across the U.S.
An unexplained, non-polio-like paralysis of an arm or leg has sickened 103 children in 34 states, reported New York Times. Mysterious paralysis cases happen every year, but the cases are usually much more scattered and unrelated.
Some experts believe entrovirus 68 - a non-polio respiratory disease - is to blame, but they aren't certain.
"It's unsatisfying to have an illness and not know what caused it," Dr. Samuel Dominguez, an epidemiologist and an infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado, which has had the largest cluster of patients, told NY Times.
The virus is sneaky to detect early, as it looks the same as the common cold in the first days of the infection.
Jack Wernick, a first grader in Kingsport, Tenn., caught the mystery virus in August. His father, Dan Wernick, described the first stages of Jack's illness to NY Times as a "crummy little cold."
Wernick realized something more than just a cold was infecting his son when Jack began to complain that his right arm was heavy. After that his face began drooping and pain started shooting down his right leg.
When Jack got to the East Tennessee Children's Hospital he couldn't lift his arm at all and the doctors were struggling to determine the cause. They realized he had this mysterious acute flaccid myelitis disease once they stumbled upon an advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC says they are working with health care professionals and state and local health departments to investigate and better understand the illness. They are planning a potential case control study and testing specimens collected from children diagnosed with the disease.
No specific protocols were released about how to handle the illness. They suggest that parents who notice a sudden onset of weakness in their child's arms or legs should contact a health care provider to have their child assessed for possible neurological illness.
