CDC reports the number of acute flaccid myelitis cases remained low in 2022

Despite an increase in enterovirus (EV)-D68 circulation in the United States in 2022, the number of cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) remained low, according to research published in the Feb. 1 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Noting that increases in AFM cases in 2014, 2016, and 2018 were associated with EV-D68 infection, Erin R. Whitehouse, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined trends in confirmed AFM cases during 2018 to 2022, as well as clinical and laboratory characteristics.

The researchers found that during 2019 to 2022, the number of AFM cases was low (28 to 47 per year); despite evidence of increased EV-D68 circulation in the United States, the number of AFM cases remained low in 2022.

Relative to cases during the most recent peak year in 2018, during 2019 to 2022, fewer cases had upper limb involvement, prodromal respiratory or febrile illness, or cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis; more cases were associated with lower limb involvement.

“Current trends do not indicate when the next increase of AFM might be expected,” the authors write. “Nonetheless, clinicians should be alert to the possibility of AFM among children with acute flaccid limb weakness and report to health departments when they suspect cases.”

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