Polio-like disease detected in California

Doctors within the US have released warnings concerning the emergence of a polio-like disease, which so far appears to have affected up to 20 people within California. Patients have developed paralysis in all four limbs within recent months, which has not shown any improvement with treatment, a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology heard.

Although the US is now free of the polio virus, other viruses that are related to it can result in limb paralysis. Polio is a highly dangerous infection that affects children, resulting in paralysis of the limbs by invading the nervous symptoms. Around one in every 200 cases results in paralysis. The infection can be fatal as there is a chance that it can result in the lungs not working correctly.    

Currently polio is only endemic in three countries - Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan - due to the implementation of vaccine programmes. 

The new virus that is presenting with similar symptoms as polio is still fairly rare and doctors are not expecting an epidemic. So far within the last 18 months only 20 cases of the suspected virus have been detected. These cases are mostly within children.

Doctors have analysed five of the polio-like cases and believe that the enterovirus-68 could be responsible for the symptoms. This virus is related to the polio virus, which would explain the closely matching symptoms. 

Each of the children that have been taken ill with the virus have had vaccinations against polio but have still been diagnosed with symptoms ranging from restricted movement in a single limb to extreme weakness in all four limbs.

Neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr Emmanuelle Waubant, told the BBC: "There has been no obvious increase in the pace of new cases so we don't think we're about to experience an epidemic, that's the good news.

"But it's bad news for individuals unlucky enough to develop symptoms which tend to be moderate to severe and don't appear to improve too much despite reasonably aggressive treatment."