Tessa Ward



What Is the Polio-Like Illness Paralyzing US Children?



Summary:

In August of 2014, an unknown virus spiked up in 34 states, diagnosing 120 people by the end of that year. Most of the victims were children. Doctors and scientists think that it could have something to do with polio, which was thought to be eliminated from the United States in 1979. Polio is a virus that attacks the nervous system , mostly in young children, causing paralysis and very possibly, death. This new sickness, which doctors are calling it acute flaccid myelitis, not only attacks the nervous system, but also the spinal cord, which would have the same effects just like if you had polio. However, the major difference between these two viruses is, polio has a vaccine, whereas AFM does not. This year, AFM attacked a 3 year old boy, leaving him completely paralyzed. Scientists and doctors are working on finding a solution to cure people in the future with this virus.



Analysis:

I don’t think that we can completely eliminate a virus all together, its always going to come back, and can also carry in people’s genetics. I think that these doctors and scientists need to figure out a vaccine for this sickness as quickly as they can before too many people are long termed affected by AFM. I think that since this virus is a lot like polio, I think that they should take some of the properties of the polio vaccine and tweak it until they have found a perfect cure. We all need to be careful about touching things in public, or drinking out of public water fountains as to avoid any more breakouts of polio, AFM, or some other virus we don’t know about.


Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/05/health/afm-polio-like-flaccid-myelitis-paralysis-children/index.html