Efforts to keep the spread head of COVID-19 also stopped other transmissible diseases , including a polio - comparable condition called acute flaccid myelitis ( AFM ) , concord to a new study . US efforts to contain COVID-19 may have had mixed success , but AFM proved wanton even without being deliberately targeted .

AFM is a spinal cord infection that reduce hoi polloi ' limb forcefulness and control condition . As with poliomyelitis , some patients stop up with life history - retentive disabilities .   After first being discover in the USA in 2012 , AFM come back in 2014 , 2016 , and2018 . The reason for its two - yr cycle are not fully understood , but it was n’t too toilsome to make out the next phone number . In August 2020 aesculapian expertswarnedof another irruption , likely in the follow few months . Instead , only 31 cases were reported , lead to thesuggestionprotective measure against COVID-19 , such as social distancing , made the difference .

A study inScience Translational Medicinelinks the condition to enterovirus 68 ( EV - D68 ) , a respiratory computer virus that ordinarily cause modest frigid - like symptoms in infants and young children . This in turn has confirm the auspicious actions taken against COVID-19 are the intellect there was n’t an AFM outbreak last class .

Although a connection between AFM and EV - D68 has been suspect , EV - D68 has circulated in the US for at least 60 age and is usually harmless enough tracking is haphazard , make a link hard to confirm . Princeton Ph.D. studentSang Woo Parkused what information is available on the virus ’s banquet to liken its frequency to that of AFM . Although unable to definitively prove EV - D68 is the causal agency of AFM , Park and co - authors report a suspiciously strong relationship in when and where they come along . At a minimum , EV - D68 is a good proxy for AFM occurrences .

Polio itself is triggered by a ( hopefully presently to be eradicated ) enterovirus , so it is not surprising similar symptoms would be triggered by another member of the same genus of RNA viruses .

The number of people pretend by AFM is small compare to polio at its peak , and flyspeck by comparing with COVID-19 . Nevertheless , more than 500 masses in the US have been affected by it since 2012 , with serious consequence .

" Though presently uncommon , this syndrome has been increasing in frequency with each successive eruption since 2014 , make it critically significant to easily understand the patterns and drivers behind it , " Park allege in astatement .

EV - D68 is more common . Even with special testing leading to spectacular underreporting , more than 1,000 cases were known in 2014 alone .

The failure of the hoped-for 2020 irruption to pass suggests enterovirus D68 is less transmissible than SARS - CoV-2 , making the societal distancing and mask use that only partially see to it the COVID computer virus more effective against AFM . We ’ve seen asimilar plungein influenza , which is known to be less transmissible than SARS - CoV-2 .

As vaccination take over from societal distancing as the prize method of COVID-19 control , Park thinks EV - D68 will belike return , bringing AFM with it . A vaccine against it may prove essential .