Doctors Think They've Nabbed Culprit Behind Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Paralyzing Kids

Gizmodo ---------- Since 2014, doctors have been stymied by a medical mystery: People, mostly children, were coming down with a previously unknown, polio-like illness that causes paralysis. Now, an international team of doctors published in The Lancet believe they’ve managed to confirm the main culprit. Ever since the defeat of polio in the U.S. a half-century ago, reported cases of paralysis brought on by infection had been virtually non-existent. Mosquito-borne germs, like West Nile virus, are known to trigger a polio-like paralysis, while others can cause a rare autoimmune complication called Guillain-Barré syndrome, but neither happen with any regular frequency. Starting in 2014, though, doctors started seeing a spate of children suffering an acute and rapid weakening of their muscles and paralysis, primarily affecting the limbs, along with confirmed spinal cord damage. That year, there were 120 confirmed cases of this acute flaccid myelitis, as it’s formally known, found across 34 U.S. states, while 2016 saw 149 cases across 39 states. Several deaths have also been linked to the condition. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.