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US wastewater samples are showing an alarming increase in a respiratory virus that has been linked to polio-like symptoms.Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) can lead to acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which can cause weakness or paralysis, typically in kids.“We are detecting EV-D68 nucleic acids in wastewater across the country now, and the levels are increasing,” Alexandria Boehm — program director of WastewaterSCAN, a nonprofit monitoring network and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University — told NBC News this week.EV-D68 is quite common, with most people over 5 showing evidence of prior infection.
The virus is transmitted via respiratory secretions like saliva or nasal mucus or by touching a contaminated surface and the mouth or nose.Infections peak in summer and fall — infants, children and teenagers, particularly those with asthma, are most vulnerable.EV-D68 symptoms are typically mild and include a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, malaise and body aches.
In severe cases, wheezing and difficulty breathing have been reported.Most concerningly, EV-D68 is believed to play a part in the development of AFM.
A rare but serious neurological condition, AFM symptoms include muscle weakness, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, facial drooping, and, in some cases, paralysis.In these cases, AFM begins with cold-like symptoms and, within a week, progresses to paralysis.
While intensive physical therapy can be helpful, there is no specific treatment or cure, and many patients are left with serious, life-altering disabilities.Similar to polio, AFM only causes paralysis in some people.
While these neurological complications are rare, outbreaks of severe EV-D68 and AFM follow a peculiar pattern.Since the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began monitoring the condition in 2014, AFM has flared up in waves, spiking in an every-other-year pattern — infecting far more people in 2016 and 2018 than in 2015 and 2017.The every...