Doctors in California are reporting that a rare “polio-like syndrome” has caused some level of paralysis in as many as 25 children in the state. Considering the fact that polio — a crippling disease that can be fatal in children — was eradicated in the United States over three decades ago, the news is concerning medical professionals.
“What’s we’re seeing now is bad. The best-case scenario is complete loss of one limb, the worst is all four limbs, with respiratory insufficiency, as well. It’s like the old polio,” Keith Van Haren, a pediatric neurologist in Palo Alto, CA who treated several of the children after their symptoms first emerged in 2012, told USA Today.
