Polio-like disease appears in California children

Polio-like disease appears in California children

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — An extremely rare, polio-like disease has appeared in more than a dozen California children within the past year, and each of them suffered paralysis to one or more arms or legs, Stanford University researchers say. But public health officials haven't identified any common causes connecting the cases.

The illness is still being investigated and appears to be very unusual, but Dr. Keith Van Haren at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University warned Monday that any child showing a sudden onset of weakness in their limbs or symptoms of paralysis should be immediately seen by a doctor.

"The disease resembles but is not the same as polio," he said. "But this is serious. Most of the children we've seen so far have not recovered use of their arm or their leg."

But doctors are not sure if it's a virus or something else, he said. Van Haren said he has studied five cases from Monterey up through the San Francisco Bay Area, including two that were identified as the disease enterovirus-68, which is from the same family as the polio viruses. He said there have been about 20 cases statewide.

"We want to temper the concern, because at the moment, it does not appear to represent a major epidemic but only a very rare phenomenon," he said, noting similar outbreaks in Asia and Australia.

But for some children, like Sofia Jarvis, 4, of Berkeley, rare doesn't mean safe.

She first developed what looked like asthma two years ago, but then her left arm stopped moving, and it has remained paralyzed ever since.

"You can imagine. We had two boys that are very healthy, and Sofia was healthy until that point," said her mother, Jessica Tomei. "We did not realize what we were in store for. We did not realize her arm would be permanently paralyzed."

Van Haren, who diagnosed Sofia, said polio vaccines do not protect children from the disease, but he stressed that it is still important for children to receive that vaccine.

Dr. Jane Seward of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said Monday that the research is still underway in California, and there are a variety of infectious diseases that can cause childhood paralysis.

Any of a number of illnesses could be at work, and it's possible some of the cases had one infection and some had another. Regarding the presence of EV-68 in at least two cases, "it could be an incidental finding," Seward said.

In this photo taken with a mobile phone, Jessica Tomei—_
In this photo taken with a mobile phone, Jessica Tomei holds her 4-year-old daughter, Sofia Jarvis, ??_

Until officials get more information, Seward said they are not looking around the country for similar cases of EV-68.

The California Department of Public Health has not identified any common causes that suggest that the cases are linked, said Dr. Gil Chavez, the deputy director of the Center for Infectious Disease and state epidemiologist.

Physicians and public health officials who have encountered similar illnesses have submitted 20 reports to CDPH, and CDPH has conducted preliminary tests on 15 of these specimens," he said. "Thus far, the department has not identified any common causes that suggest that the cases are linked."

University of California, San Francisco, neurology professor Emmanuelle Waubant said doctors believe, but don't have proof, that it's a virus that for most children shows up only as a benign cold. She said a few children, due to their biological makeup, are having much more serious symptoms and she hoped doctors would look for them.

"For a lot of the neurologists who have trained in the last 30 years, it's extremely rare to see polio or polio-like syndrome," she said.

It's now appearing in New York news rooms. One dozen children?

Why a year later and is it really just a dozen?

...and in USA today says it's over two dozen. - 4 p.m. EST February 23, 2014


A mysterious polio-like syndrome has affected as many as 25 California children, leaving them with paralyzed limbs and little hope of recovery.

"What's we're seeing now is bad. The best-case scenario is complete loss of one limb, the worst is all four limbs, with respiratory insufficiency, as well. It's like the old polio," said Keith Van Haren, a pediatric neurologist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.

The first known case appeared in 2012. Sofia Jarvis in Berkeley began to experience wheezing and difficulty breathing. The 2-year-old spent days in the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital Oakland. Doctors thought she had asthma.

On a follow-up visit, her mother Jessica Tomei, 37, realized something else was wrong.

"As we were leaving the doctor's office, I noticed that she went to grab something with her left arm and she stopped, midway," Tomei said.

Eventually Sofia was brought to Van Haren's clinic with "a unique set of symptoms." She was treated with steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, used to reduce the severity of infections by giving the body antibodies to protect against bacteria and viruses. "None of it helped," said Van Haren, a neurology professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

"He told us right away that the prognosis was really poor and that she's not going to get better," Tomei said.

The diagnosis proved correct. Today, at age 4, Sofia's left arm is paralyzed and she has some weakness in her left leg as well as slight breathing issues.

Still, parents shouldn't panic. "This is really very rare," Van Haren said. "But we are asking any families who notice a sudden onset of weakness to see their doctors immediately. Their doctors should contact the California Department of Public Health."

California is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to see if there are cases outside California. So far none have been reported.

Overall Sofia's family is grateful. "She's still with us, she's still running around, she's going to preschool," her mother said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/23/polio-like-illness-california/5703827/

...and upon further research this is interesting

West Nile Virus Can Cause Polio-like Symptoms


Date: April 1, 2003


Source:

American Academy Of Neurology


More evidence shows that West Nile virus can cause a polio-like syndrome with paralysis and impaired breathing.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030401074409.htm

Interesting. I'll have to keep an eye on this to see where it goes.

....and the CDC reports the highest west nile cases 2012:

Where

In 2012, 62 percent of all reported West Nile virus cases—were concentrated in California, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, , Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. Texas reported 33 percent of all reported West Nile virus cases in 2012.

Last summer??s outbreak likely resulted from many factors, including higher-than-normal temperatures that influenced mosquito and bird abundance, the replication of the virus in its host mosquitoes, and interactions of birds and mosquitoes in hard-hit areas. Because the factors that lead to West Nile virus disease outbreaks are complex, CDC cannot predict where and when they will occur.

Additional Information

Each spring, CDC releases the final West Nile virus case surveillance data for the previous year. The data include confirmed and probable human disease cases reported to ArboNET by state and local health departments. ArboNET is the national, electronic surveillance system established by CDC to assist states in tracking illness caused by West Nile virus and other viruses transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks.

Last year's large outbreak is a reminder that it is important for people to protect themselves from West Nile virus, especially as we head into summer and mosquitoes become more active. The best way to prevent West Nile virus disease is to avoid mosquito bites:
??Use insect repellents when you go outdoors. Use repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and para-menthane-diol (PMD) because these repellents provide longer-lasting protection than other products. Always follow the instructions on the label.
??Wear long sleeves and pants at dawn and dusk when many mosquitoes are most active.
??Repair or install screens on windows and doors. Use air conditioning, if you have it.
??Help reduce the numbers of mosquitoes around your home. Empty standing water from items such as gutters, flowerpots, buckets, and kiddie pools. Change birdbaths weekly.

Posted by TMV
Interesting. I'll have to keep an eye on this to see where it goes.

Was gonna post this yesterday as I read it on an online newspaper. I've heard it on the radio twice today and then news highlights for tonight.

If I were a parent in ANY of these states, my ass would be at the nearest health department asking ALOT of questions.

Here's a 2014 look at a map of each state with amount of cases to date (West Nile)

MAP OF WEST NILE U.S.

Posted by aquavita
The problems in syrfia with the refuges are causing spfread of pollio as many of them r not vaccnated. our world is in havock.(me3aning refuges from syria spreading all over europe and north africa). we need naature. only nature can save us. but keep on killingit. with every move and every breathI

?

I think that's lack of proper medical care.

But then I'm not sure what you mean by "nature" saving us.

Nature is what's attacking. :/

Posted by Rabbit
West Nile isn't something you fuck with at all.

Even in 90 degree heat, if I'm out fishing, I'm wearing long sleeves and long pants to minimize bare skin.

On my face and hands I use a natural plant based insect repellent....the strong stuff can melt parts of my fishing tackle so I can't use it.

Lyme disease (ticks) is a real bad too. People can be just as crippled by it and blinded. What plant do you use as a repellent? Lemon balm?

Posted by aquavita>and yes polios spreaxding due to "Aack of vacciantion and lack of medical care.

All cases of the kids studied have been vaccinated for Polio, so that's not what it is. They simply don't know what it is. With over two dozen cases, there has to be something of all these case that is familiar with each. They don't even know if it's a virus yet.

I hope they are studying PHARMACEUTICALS prescribed at one time or another to each case, because eerily, the big pharmaceutical companies are hush, hush and not offering up financial research.

I smell a rat somewhere.