ICU beds and ventilator supplies are already thin on the ground in many parts of the US due to a spike in new coronavirus infections.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict demand will increase in 2020, due to a predictable outbreak of a different disease.
UPI reports AFM, or acute flaccid myelitis, is a rare nervous system condition affecting the grey matter of the spinal cord.
It causes muscles and reflexes to become weak. Symptoms include sudden arm or leg weakness and loss of muscle tone and reflexes.
The disease can progress rapidly, leading to permanent paralysis and life-threatening respiratory failure in previously healthy patients.
An outbreak is expected this year because spikes in confirmed cases have occurred in the United States every two years since 2014.
In 2018, 90% of the 238 cases of AFM diagnosed in 2018 involved children around 5 years old.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict demand will increase in 2020, due to a predictable outbreak of a different disease.
UPI reports AFM, or acute flaccid myelitis, is a rare nervous system condition affecting the grey matter of the spinal cord.
It causes muscles and reflexes to become weak. Symptoms include sudden arm or leg weakness and loss of muscle tone and reflexes.
The disease can progress rapidly, leading to permanent paralysis and life-threatening respiratory failure in previously healthy patients.
An outbreak is expected this year because spikes in confirmed cases have occurred in the United States every two years since 2014.
In 2018, 90% of the 238 cases of AFM diagnosed in 2018 involved children around 5 years old.
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