<unk>  (AFM) is a rare but serious neurological condition characterized by sudden onset of paralysis and weakness in extremities (lower > upper). AFM affects the area of the spinal cord called gray matter, which causes the muscles and reflexes in the body to become weak. It is typically a lower motor neuron lesion but cases have been identified where there was reported involvement of the midbrain and medulla oblongata. The risk of getting AFM varies by age and year. There has been an increased number of AFM cases every two years since 2014 and mostly in young children. Still, CDC estimates that less than one to two in a million children in the United States will get AFM every year. AFM should be differentiated from other diseases which present with muscle weakness, hypotonia and<unk>  paralysis. AFM has been known to be associated with viral infections such as West Nile virus, coxsackie virus, Adenovirus, Poliovirus, Enterovirus D71 and Enterovirus D68 as well as environmental toxins. The clinical course of the disease is characterized by a prodormal phase, progressive neurological injury phase and a convalescent phase. There is no specific treatment for AFM and prevention is aimed at measures which curtail the rate of infection by viruses known to be associated with AFM.
Acute flaccid myelitis
Adrenomyeloneuropathy
Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration
Guillain-Barré syndrome
Transverse myelitis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Lateral medullary syndrome
Central pontine myelinolysis