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- Title
Using the Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance System to Identify Cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis, Australia, 2000‒2018.
- Authors
Walker, Liz J.; Thorley, Bruce R.; Morris, Anne; Elliott, Elizabeth J.; Saul, Nathan; Britton, Philip N.; Australian Polio Expert Panel1
- Abstract
Since 2012, the United States has reported a distinct syndrome of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with anterior myelitis, predominantly in children. This polio-like syndrome was termed acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Australia routinely conducts AFP surveillance to exclude poliomyelitis. We reviewed 915 AFP cases in Australia for children <15 years of age during 2000‒2018 and reclassified a subset to AFM by using the US Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists case definition. We confirmed 37 AFM cases by using magnetic resonance imaging findings and 4 probable AFM cases on the basis of cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis. Nonpolio enteroviruses were detected in 33% of AFM cases from which stool samples were tested. Average annual AFM incidence was 0.07 cases/100,000 person-years in children <15 years of age. AFM occurred sporadically in Australia before 2010 but regularly since then, indicating sustained, albeit rare, clinical manifestation in children. The AFP surveillance system in Australia is well-positioned to identify future AFM cases.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; MYELITIS; ACUTE flaccid paralysis; CENTRAL nervous system infections; POLIO; SYMPTOMS; MAGNETIC resonance imaging; ENTEROVIRUS diseases
- Publication
Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2022, Vol 28, Issue 1, p20
- ISSN
1080-6040
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.3201/eid2801.211690