Enterovirus causes rare cases of acute polio-like myelitis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 13 cases of acute myelitis, NBC News reported Tuesday.
The wastewater samples that were analyzed revealed a significant increase in the presence of an enterovirus known as (D68), which is linked to rare cases of acute flaccid myelitis, in addition to its effect on the nervous system and causing severe weakness in the arms and legs, especially in young children.
“We are detecting EVD68 nucleic acids in wastewater across the country and levels are rising,” said Alexandria Baum, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of Waste Water Scan, a nonprofit monitoring network.
“This is the first evidence that the nation may be experiencing an increase in acute flaccid myelitis, and the second is that the time of year is right, with September being the month when cases of the disease are most likely to occur,” said Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
According to the network, anyone who has a cold is likely to have an intestinal virus, as viruses cause mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, cough, headache, and a general feeling of malaise.
The enterovirus D68 strain began causing serious problems in 2014, when the United States saw an increase in cases of polio, with 120 children diagnosed with the disease.
There is no specific cure for paralysis, and even with years of intensive physical therapy, many are left with life-changing disabilities.
Although a few dozen cases have been reported each year since then, larger waves of polio have followed a biennial pattern, rising again in 2016 (with 153 cases) and in 2018 (with 238 cases).
The pattern was halted in 2020 when the country went into lockdown due to the Covid pandemic, which significantly reduced the spread of the virus.
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