A Step Towards a Cure for Rare Polio-Like Disease in Children

Acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, is a rare but devastatingly debilitating neurologic disease in children caused by a respiratory viral infection. The condition affects the nervous system, in particular the gray matter of the spinal cord which can result in sudden arm or leg weakness, a loss of reflexes, and a degeneration of muscle tone. Children affected may also experience difficulty with swallowing, neck or back pain, and drooping eyelids.

The disease, which bears symptomatic similarities to polio, has been confirmed in over 600 children in the United States since case tracking was initiated in 2014. Over 90 percent of AFM cases were reported in young children and cases appear to be on the rise. Cases often tend to peak between August and October, when respiratory viral infections often peak.

A collaborative effort between researchers at Vanderbilt, Purdue, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have recently made a significant breakthrough in the hunt for ways to treat AFM, as described in a publication in Science Immunology. The team looked to natural immune responses for answers, identifying human monoclonal antibodies that bind specifically to the respiratory virus responsible for AFM. First identified in California in 1962, enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) belongs to a family of 100 other non-polio enteroviruses.