11 Children have Mystery Illness in Colorado - by: Milan Hamilton

A child in Colorado has been hospitalized at Children's Hospital Colorado with partial paralysis. Though doctors don't know the cause of this illness, 11 kids so far have all reported with similar symptoms. These symptoms include limb weakness, cranial nerve dysfunction and abnormalities in the spine. Many mothers say it starts with a cough and then the children become lethargic and a rising fever. Afterwords, the children begin to complain of muscle weakness, dropping fairly light objects. Some of the children have tested positive for a virus called enterovirus D68, but some don't have signs of the virus at all. So far there are 500 cases of respiratory illnesses that are caused by enterovirus D68 and 4 cases of the virus found in people who have recently died. However, doctors aren't sure what role the virus played in their deaths. The children, doctors say, are stable. They aren't getting worse but there aren't dramatic signs of improvement.


This is interesting because it shows how much a disease can affect a society. Just as the diseases that were brought over from Europe wiped out Native American Nations, it's important to be on the look out for new diseases that are possible to spread. They can wipe out an entire people, completely re shaping a nation. Because we have better technology, suitable to finding cures for diseases, we can stop or help prevent many illnesses from happening.  Technology has helped people to remain healthy and have helped people to live longer. I hope that these kids get well very soon and that they figure out the cause and cure to this illness. I also hope that thy can contain it, so that it doesn't spread to more people.http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/03/health/colorado-partial-paralysis/index.html