Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) vs.Polio

Polio and acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) are illnesses that cause muscle weakness and paralysis (when you’re not able to move). They both typically affect children.

Polio is a viral infection that paralyzed more than 15,000 people in the U.S. each year — mostly children — in the early 1950s. It’s been wiped out in this country thanks to a vaccine, but it’s still a problem in some places, including Nigeria, New Guinea, and Somalia.

Doctors don’t know exactly what causes AFM, but many cases seem to be brought on by a viral infection, too. (Researchers aren’t sure how the virus triggers it.)

There’s been a small outbreak in the U.S. in recent years, but it’s still very rare. Fewer than 1 in a million children in the U.S. get the disease each year.

AFM causes sudden weakness in your arms and legs, along with a loss of muscle tone and sometimes pain. Your face may also feel weak.

Other symptoms include:

With polio, most children who have the virus don’t show any signs of it. Only about 1 in 4 kids who are infected have symptoms like these:

These typically last 2 to 5 days, then go away.

A much smaller number of children who get the virus have more serious symptoms like:

Only about 1 out of every 200 children with the virus has paralysis, but when it happens, it can be permanent.

Doctors diagnose polio with a physical exam, a swab of your throat, and a stool sample. Your doctor also might take a sample of your blood. These are sent to a lab, where technicians check for the poliovirus.

AFM is harder to diagnose because its symptoms can be a lot like those of other diseases related to your brain and nervous system, such as transverse myelitis and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Doctors do the following to try to find out if it’s AFM or something else:

There’s no cure for either polio or AFM, but some things can help with symptoms. Children with either polio or AFM may need:

Most of the time, polio goes away within a few days. Even children who have the most serious kind are rarely paralyzed.

But a small number of people can have symptoms like these years afterward:

Doctors don’t know the long-term outlook for AFM. Some people get better and don’t have any lingering effects, while others have weak muscles for a long time afterward.

The polio vaccine will help keep your child from getting the virus that causes the disease. Children need four doses of the vaccine at ages:

There’s no vaccine for AFM and no sure way to prevent it. But you can lower your child’s chances of getting a virus that might trigger it:

Pagination

Tips for safe use and storage.

Treating diarrhea, fever and more.

How healthy is your child’s diet?

How to help your child feel better.

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Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) vs.Polio

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