BOSTON (WHDH) - The odds of getting the polio-like disease is less than one in a million; however, two cases in the Bay State have been confirmed and four others are under investigation, the Department of Public Health announced.
The rare disease, acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), affects the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
Kelly Tunan’s 5-year-old son was diagnosed with the disease in 2015 and had to undergo several surgeries on his right leg and right foot.
“What we have been told is that he’s the best case scenario of a difficult situation,” she said. “So we’re very lucky that he had (physical therapy) through early intervention. We did swimming to help him as well. And he’s had a lot of support at school with physical therapy.”
Cases similar to Tunan’s son are spreading to children around the age of four nationwide.
At least 62 cases have been confirmed in 22 states this year, and at least 65 additional illnesses in those states are being investigated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Symptoms of AFM include sudden limb weakness, loss of muscle tone and reflexes, facial and eyelid drooping, difficulty moving the eyes, difficulty swallowing and slurred speech, the CDC said. The most severe symptom is breathing trouble.
Massachusetts General Neurology Department Director Dr. Marcelo Matiello urged parents who see any of these symptoms to get their children to a neurologist without hesitation.
“Treatment options are quite limited,” he said. “What we do is a medication called immunoglobulins, and that’s to decrease the inflammation that happens in the nerves and in the spinal cord.”
Officials have not determined a cause of the rare disease.
Nancy Messonnier, a doctor at the CDC, called it a “mystery illness.”
Health officials are able to confirm cases through a review of brain scans and symptoms.
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