SCIENCE NEWS FOR STUDENTS: Last year, a nasty virus swept across the United States. Called enterovirus D68, it initially left its victims sneezing and coughing. Some even struggled to breathe. But quite a few of these people also developed an even scarier symptom: limbs that could not move. Almost all victims of this paralysis were kids. New evidence now links those polio-like symptoms to a new type of the virus.
Doctors are now referring to the paralytic illness as acute flaccid myelitis (Ah-KUTE FLAA-sid MY-eh-LY-tis). Since August 2, 2014, government health officials say the illness has sickened 115 children in 34 states. It damages nerve cells in the spinal cord that control muscles. This can make it hard to move the arms or legs. If nerves in the head also become damaged, paralysis can affect the face. Sometimes vision may become blurred. In very bad cases, patients may not be able to breathe on their own. Read more.