Acute Flaccid Myelitis Outbreak

J Gordon Millichap1

  • 1Division of Neurology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.

Insights

An outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) occurred in 2014-2015 across multiple US states. This report details the epidemiology of this serious neurological condition.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a rare but serious neurological condition.
  • An increase in AFM cases was observed in 2014-2015.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects data on such outbreaks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To report on the outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in the United States during 2014-2015.
  • To describe the epidemiological characteristics of the reported AFM cases.

Main Methods:

  • Data collection from multiple states reporting to the CDC.
  • Analysis of case reports to identify patterns and trends.

Main Results:

  • An outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) was identified.
  • The outbreak occurred across several states during the 2014-2015 period.

Conclusions:

  • The findings highlight the occurrence of an AFM outbreak.
  • Further investigation is warranted to understand the causes and patterns of AFM.

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