BrainWaves #38 Acute flaccid myelitis

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities, and episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021.

Originally released: July 18, 2017

I am not sure there are many things more terrifying than watching your child experience what looks like “just a cold” and then, over the course of a few hours, become paralyzed. In this episode, Drs. Ana Cristancho and Sarah Hopkins describe what we know about this recent polio-like outbreak in the United States.

BrainWaves podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used to guide medical decision-making in routine clinical practice. This episode was vetted and approved by Dr. Sarah Hopkins.

REFERENCES

Aliabadi N, Messacar K, Pastula DM, et al. Enterovirus D68 infection in children with acute flaccid myelitis, Colorado, USA, 2014. Emerg Infect Dis 2016;22(8):1387-94. PMID 27434186

Greninger AL, Naccache SN, Messacar K, et al. A novel outbreak enterovirus D68 strain associated with acute flaccid myelitis cases in the USA (2012-14): a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Infect Dis 2015;15(6):671-82. PMID 25837569

Messacar K, Schreiner TL, Van Haren K, et al. Acute flaccid myelitis: a clinical review of US cases 2012-2015. Ann Neurol 2016;80(3):326-38. PMID 27422805

We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode’s original release date.