Paralyzing Illness Incidents Spike in Children in 2014, 2016, and now 2018

AP (2018, October 17). Cause unknown: Mysterious paralyzing illness found among kids in 22 U.S. states https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/10/17/world/science-health-world/cause-unknown-mysterious-paralyzing-illness-found-among-kids-22-u-s-states/#.W8dER3tKj3g
NEW YORK – U.S. health officials on Tuesday reported a jump in cases of a rare paralyzing illness in children, and said it seems to be following an every-other-year pattern.  At least 62 cases have been confirmed in 22 states this year, and at least 65 additional illnesses in those states are being investigated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar waves of the same illness occurred in 2014 and 2016.

I first started seeing news reports on the "mysterious paralyzing illness" found in kids in 2014 but back then it was linked to Enterovirus 68.

2014, OCTOBER

The New York Times had a report Oct 2 2014 that summarized "expert" knowledge at that time regarding the the paralyzing disease http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/enterovirus-68-what-you-need-to-know/

In that report, the Times interviews an enterovirus expert from Columbia University, Rafal Tokarz of the Center for Infection & Immunity at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Biographical notes describe Dr. Tokarz "as an enterovirus expert who has studied previous outbreaks of the disease, including a cluster of cases that he and his colleagues identified in New York City in 2009."

In the transcript, the journalist (A. O'Connor) asks Dr. Tokarz what distinguishes the outbreak:

Anahad O'Connor (2014, October 2). Enterovirus 68: What Experts Are Learning. The New York Times, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/enterovirus-68-what-you-need-to-know/
Q. Why is this outbreak so different than others? Is the virus evolving?

A. Absolutely. It is evolving. A hypothesis of mine is that the strain that’s circulating now probably is a novel variant. It may have mutated into something that’s more easily transmissible and more pathogenic. The virus is mutating, and there are a lot of different variants circulating around the globe.

We don’t know much about this particular strain because that data to my knowledge hasn’t been released yet by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But enteroviruses do change over time fairly rapidly. If you look at the strains that were circulating in the past, the strains from 10, 15 or 20 years ago, they’re very different genetically.

Ok so in 2014 a mutated form of enterovirus was suspected to be responsible for the terrible but low incident paralyzing condition.

2015-2016

The disease was reported again in 2015 and in 2016. Here is a sample article from 2016 as The Los Angeles Times describes a sudden spike in childhood paralysis cases linked to Enterovirus D-68:

Soumya Karlamangla. October 21, 2016. Her toddler suddenly paralyzed, mother tries to solve a vexing medical mystery. The Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-polio-paralysis-20160823-snap-story.html

Enterovirus D-68 was incredibly rare, almost never seen after it was first discovered in 1962 in four California children who had pneumonia. Though a cousin of poliovirus, it was only supposed to cause a runny nose and cough.... Between August 2014 and January 2015, 120 children in 34 states were diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis, according to federal health officials. The median patient age was 7.

So, between August 2014 and January 2015 120 kids in 34 states were diagnosed with the median age of 7. The disease was then linked to Enterovirus D-68.

2018

Now in 2018 reports of a "mysterious paralyzing" disease, with a median case age of 4, are disconnected from any discussion of the mutating enterovirus held accountable in mass media reports from 2014-2016.

As evidence of my claim, I present below the top 3 search results for a google search conducted this morning 10/20/2018 at 9:35 (AZ time). None of these results included discussion of the enterovirus-68 or Enterovirus D-68 as responsible for the disease paralyzing children (most detailed account offered by USA Today):

I wonder why the paralyzing illness has been disconnected from the enterovirus in the dominant mass media representations?

CDC

The CDC offers this information in an article titled "AFM Information" https://www.cdc.gov/acute-flaccid-myelitis/afm-surveillance.html:

From August 2014 through September 2018, CDC has received information on a total of 386 confirmed cases of AFM across the US; most of the cases have occurred in children... 

CDC has tested many different specimens from AFM patients for a wide range of pathogens (germs) that can cause AFM. To date, no pathogen (germ) has been consistently detected in the patients’ spinal fluid; a pathogen detected in the spinal fluid would be good evidence to indicate the cause of AFM since this condition affects the spinal cord. 

The increase in AFM cases in 2014 coincided with a national outbreak of severe respiratory illness among people caused by enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). Among the people confirmed with AFM, CDC did not consistently detect EV-D68 in every patient. 

During 2015, CDC did not receive information about large EV-D68 outbreaks in the United States, and laboratories reported only limited EV-D68 detections to CDC’s National Enterovirus Surveillance System (NESS). During 2016, CDC was informed of a few localized clusters in the United States. Learn more about EV-D68.

What We Don’t Know 

Among the people who were diagnosed with AFM since August 2014: 

The cause of most of the AFM cases remains unknown. 

We don’t know what caused the increase in AFM cases starting in 2014. 

We have not yet determined who is at higher risk for developing AFM, or the reasons why they may be at higher risk. 

We do not yet know the long-term effects of AFM. We know that some patients diagnosed with AFM have recovered quickly, and some continue to have paralysis and require ongoing care.

So, the CDC suggests a link to the enterovirus but does not confirm it because of insufficient evidence.

ENTEROVIRUSES?

I conducted a quick search of articles on enteroviruses. They are nasty and prone to mutation. Their effects include neurological ones, even with seemingly benign diseases, such as hand, foot, and mouth disease which is attributed to Enterovirus-71 (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00026/full).

The Wall Street Journal just reported on East Coast universities' efforts to contain a disease outbreak of Enterovirus-71, with John Hopkins reporting more than 100 cases (https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-try-to-stop-spread-of-hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-1539954000?mod=hp_listb_pos3 ). 

So, there is an outbreak of Enterovirus-71 with possibility of  an Enterovirus-D-68 outbreak, although not yet confirmed by CDC so dropped from national news reporting.

VIRAL HAZARDS FROM INCREASED ELECTRO-MAGNETIC RADIATION

Mutations in RNA and DNA occur randomly and in response to environmental exposures, especially exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

The precarious dance of life has always been energized and disrupted by radiation. Any increased level of radiation will disrupt precarious balances.

The Fukushima Daiichi disaster increased background radiation levels in the atmosphere significantly in 2011. Data from actual fallout samples indicate that the Fukushima produced a plume of cesium that was two to three MAGNITUDES higher GLOBALLY than the background levels caused by routine emissions, atmospheric testing, Chernobyl, etc:

Masson, et al (2011) Tracking of Airborne Radionuclides from the Damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Reactors by European Networks. Environ. Sci. Technol, 45 (18), 7670−7677.

The ocean is contaminated daily with Tritium, Radioiodine and Strontium, among other likely radionuclides, as TEPCO struggles to capture and contain unprecedented volumes of contaminated water at the site.

The Fukushima disaster is but one source point for increased electro-magnetic radiation exposure from human technologies. 

It has long been understood that viral mutation increases with increased levels of radiation exposure.

MORE research is urgently needed to study effects in real-world environments.