Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Urges Doctors To Report Early Cases Of 'Devastating' Polio-Like Illness In Children
The New York Times: C.D.C. Investigates Rare Type Of Paralysis In Children
Last year, health officials confronted a record number of cases of a rare, mysterious neurological condition that caused limb weakness and paralysis in more than 200 children across the country. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that they were still trying to understand the condition, called acute flaccid myelitis, or A.F.M. And though there have been very few cases so far this year, they urged doctors to be on the lookout because the illness has tended to emerge in late summer and early fall. (Belluck, 7/9)
Stat: With A Surge In Cases Of Mystery Condition, CDC Seeks Help To Crack Case
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday appealed to doctors to rapidly report suspected cases of a mysterious ailment that afflicts young children, saying delays in identifying possible cases of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, are hindering the search for the condition’s cause. Every two years since 2014, a surge of the polio-like illnesses has struck a number of young children across the country, leaving them with weakened limbs. Efforts to find the cause of the phenomenon have pointed to viral infections as a possible culprit, but to date no one virus has been clearly implicated. (Branswell, 7/9)
CNN: Polio-Like Illness AFM: 11 Confirmed Cases In Eight States So Far In 2019
"AFM is a devastating illness for patients and their families," Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC's principal deputy director, told reporters Tuesday. "We know families are facing uncertainties when it comes to their child's recovery from AFM, and we want parents to know that we are keeping their children front and center and working with our partners to better understand this illness, its risk factors and ways to treat and prevent it." (Nedelman, 7/9)
Bloomberg: Mystery Child Virus Stirs Fresh U.S. Concern On Possible Return
The first sign of what scientists are calling acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, occurred in 2014, amid an outbreak of a severe respiratory infection caused by the EV-D68 virus. Most of the affected children were healthy until an infection caused fever or cold symptoms about a week before they started losing muscle strength, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been about 570 cases to date. (Cortez and Ward, 7/9)
