United States scientists have warned about the outbreak of a rare infectious syndrome similar to polio, which has affected five children in western California.
According to a report published by the AFP, five new cases of this incurable infectious disease which causes sudden paralysis, were described by researchers of the University of Stanford on Sunday during a congress of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in Philadelphia.
Keith Van Haren, one of the main authors of the study, said that the five children with paralysis in one or both arms or legs have received treatment without their symptoms getting better, and warned about the possibility of a "syndrome similar to infectious polio emerging in California".
"Although the polio virus has been practically eradicated throughout the world, other virus might also damage the spine, causing a similar syndrome to polio," said the investigator, quoted by the AFP.
The polio virus, eradicated in most of the world, affects the spine, causing irreversible damage and paralysis, symptoms very similar to those of the new virus which has affected California children.
According to USA Today, the state of California is already working with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta to identify other cases outside the state, which have not been reported yet.
It's worth noting that the new syndrome is not polio; however, its symptoms are extremely similar to those of the eradicated disease. The five reported cases were present in children younger than 12 and the cause of the disease is still unknown, according to Van Haren, said the quoted newspaper.
First studies, nevertheless, point towards Enterovirus 86, a rare virus previously associated with polio, which might be causing these cases.
Van Haren said that two of the children infected with the new virus were carriers of Enterovirus 86, while the other three were not.