Three cases of AFM confirmed in Pittsburgh
The Allegheny County Health Department has confirmed three children, including one from Washington County, have been diagnosed with a rare, potentially deadly disease of the nervous system.
The state Department Health also confirmed Wednesday the three people in UPMC-Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh have acute flaccid myelitis, according to a warning it issued from Gov. Tom Wolf.
“At this time, the exact causes or source of this disease is unknown,” Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said.
There is another suspected case of AFM in Pennsylvania, according to the state health department.
Symptoms of the disease include sudden muscle weakness in the arms or legs, facial drooping, difficulty in moving eyes and swallowing, or slurred speech. Parents who notice these symptoms in their children should get them to a health care provider immediately, according to the warning from Wolf’s office.
The state is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm diagnoses of this disease.
There was one confirmed case in Pennsylvania in 2017 and seven the previous year, the news release stated.