CDC: Reported Cases of Flaccid Myelitis Increases

The CDC has received 219 reports of acute flaccid myelitis as of November 2, which is nearly 30 more from the week prior.

Eighty of the cases have been confirmed—an increase of 8 since their last update. The 80 cases occurred across 25 states in the US.

The cause of this increase in AFM cases since 2014 is currently unknown. The CDC has been un able to determine any specific infectious agents or toxins that could be causing the condition, and no significant environmental clustering has been identified.

They note that the increase in AFM cases in 2014 coincided with an outbreak of severe respiratory illness caused by enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), but there was no evidence of a large EV-D68 outbreak in 2015. In 2016, the CDC was informed of several localized clusters of EV-D68 in the US.

“It is currently difficult to interpret trends of the AFM data. Collecting information about patients under investigation for AFM is relatively new. There may initially be more variability in the AFM data from year to year making it difficult to interpret or compare case counts between years,” the CDC noted.

“We are encouraging healthcare providers to recognize and report to their health department patients who they suspect may have AFM, and for health departments to send this information to CDC to help us understand the nationwide burden of AFM. CDC is also actively looking for risk factors and possible causes of this condition.”

—Michael Potts

For more Pharmacy Learning Network articles, visit the homepage

To learn about Pharmacy Learning Network Live meetings, click here