Acute flaccid myelitis – has it gone unrecognised in Australian children?

Authors

  • Junchao Bao Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney, NSW ;The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW
  • Bruce Thorley National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory, the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Victoria
  • Elizabeth J Elliott Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney, NSW ;The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW niversity of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health and Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health and Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, Kid’s Research, Westmead, NSW;
  • Peter McIntyre The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW ;National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Kid’s Research, Westmead, NSW ;Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Otago, Dunedin New Zealand
  • Philip N Britton Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney, NSW ;The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2020.44.22

Keywords:

Acute Flaccid Paralysis, Acute Flaccid Myelitis, Polio, Poliomyelitis, Enterovirus, EV-D68, AFP Surveillance

Abstract

We have identified a previously unrecognised cluster of a newly recognised condition – acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) – among acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases identified by the Australian Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance Network (PAEDS) 2007–2017. In the 12 months before and after detection of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) from a single AFP case in April 2016, 24 of 97 notified cases of AFP were found to be clinically compatible with AFM; of these 24 cases, ten, clustered in early 2016, met magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria for AFM. Detection of emerging enteroviruses requires collection of respiratory, cerebrospinal fluid and stool specimens, and should be routine practice for all AFP cases.

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References

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Published

16/03/20

How to Cite

Bao, Junchao, Bruce Thorley, Elizabeth J Elliott, Peter McIntyre, and Philip N Britton. 2020. “Acute Flaccid Myelitis – Has It Gone Unrecognised in Australian Children? ”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 44 (March). https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2020.44.22.

Issue

Vol. 44 (2020)

Section

Short report

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