Mysterious Virus Paralyzes Over 100 Children After Appearance of Cold-Like Symptoms

An unidentified polio-like virus, which causes child paralysis, has been making its rounds throughout the United States. So far, more than 100 children in 34 states have been affected by the mysterious virus, reports the Pensacola News Journal.

After being infected with the virus, children usually exhibit cold-like symptoms, such as high fever or colds. The infected children eventually lose the ability to move their leg, arm or even multiple limbs at the same time.

The CDC first noticed the unknown illness spreading in 2014 and warned physicians about the rising cases of the disease. The health agency believes that the virus could be related to an outbreak of enterovirus D68 or C105, which are both close relatives of the polio virus.

Doctors, who had treated patients with the strange illness, explain that there are usually only a small amount of patients every year who experience unexplained limb weakness. However, with this new illness, the rate of cases spiked significanly. 

The CDC named the new disorder acute flaccid paralysis and later changed it to acute flaccid myelitis (IFM), after finding out that the virus infected the spinal cord, states Star Advertiser.

Doctors, with patients who contracted the disorder, noted that the virus resulted in an inflammation of the spinal cord — known as myelitis in medical terms — among thier patients. 

Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist expert that specializes in a rare disorder called transverse myelitis, was able to successfully treat the virus, according to The Modesto Bee. Greenberg actually runs one of only two clinics in the U.S. that treats transverse myelitis and is visited by patients from all across the country.

Greenberg was able to reverse the effects of the IMF in Kingston Robinson, age 4, who had lost the ability to walk, stand and raise his right arm after experiencing cold-like symptoms. 

Before Greenberg's successful treatment of Kingston Robinson, doctors were treating IFM the way they would treat transverse myelitis. However, PNJ explains that transverse myelitis and IFM affect different matter in the spinal cord.

Transverse myelitis damages the cord's white matter, which separates the nerves in the spinal cord from the brain. Whereas, IFM damages gray matter, which is responsible for carrying the electrical signals from the spinal cord to the muscles. 

Before Greenberg, doctors subjected Kingston to a five-day course of steroids and physical therapy sessions, which is the typical treatment for transverse myelitis, reports Amarillo.

After noticing that IFM damaged gray matter instead of white matter, Greenberg applied a different treatment to Kingston called intravenous immunoglobulin or IVIG. With the new treatment, Kingston received good antibodies from donors in an attempt to block the damaging actions of bad antibodies. 

After three weeks of treatment, Kingston was able to walk again and go home.