Acute flaccid myelitis - has it gone unrecognised in Australian children?

Commun Dis Intell (2018). 2020 Mar 16:44. doi: 10.33321/cdi.2020.44.22.

Abstract

We have identified a previously unrecognised cluster of a newly recognised condition - acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) - among acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases identified by the Australian Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance Network (PAEDS) 2007-2017. In the 12 months before and after detection of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) from a single AFP case in April 2016, 24 of 97 notified cases of AFP were found to be clinically compatible with AFM; of these 24 cases, ten, clustered in early 2016, met magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria for AFM. Detection of emerging enteroviruses requires collection of respiratory, cerebrospinal fluid and stool specimens, and should be routine practice for all AFP cases.

Keywords: AFP Surveillance; Acute Flaccid Myelitis; Acute Flaccid Paralysis; EV-D68; Enterovirus; Polio; Poliomyelitis.

MeSH terms

  • Australia / epidemiology
  • Central Nervous System Viral Diseases* / diagnosis
  • Central Nervous System Viral Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Enterovirus D, Human
  • Enterovirus Infections* / diagnosis
  • Enterovirus Infections* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Myelitis* / diagnosis
  • Myelitis* / epidemiology
  • Neuromuscular Diseases* / diagnosis
  • Neuromuscular Diseases* / epidemiology

Supplementary concepts

  • acute flaccid myelitis