Last Year's Paralyzing Enterovirus Was Similar to Polio, Researchers Find

Researchers studying last year's sudden onset of paralysis which was suspected to be caused by enterovirus D 68 have found strong links to the virus.

According to The Denver Post, researchers who studied the virus obtained from 25 children affected by it between 2012 and 2014 discovered it was a new strain, called B1 strain, which had mutations similar to poliovirus and EV-D 70 which also causes nerve damage. The children experienced a sudden onset of paralysis called acute flaccid myelitis after a bout of respiratory illness. EV-D 68 affected 115 children in 34 states.

However the study published in the journal Lancet Infections Diseases does not conclude that paralysis was caused by the virus. Not all of the 25 samples showed the presence of virus in cerebrospinal fluid, which led researchers to consider alternative explanations that could explain nerve damage. It is possible that the body's immune reaction to the virus could be responsible for the paralysis symptoms.

The Seattle Times reported that none of the children affected have been able to fully recover but have shown improvement since infection.