Virus That Can Cause Paralysis in Children on the Rise in California [Video]

A virus that can cause paralysis in children is on the rise in California, with new wastewater analysis showing increasing viral activity across the state.

In most people, enterovirus D68, also known as EV-D68, causes mild respiratory symptoms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. However, in rare cases the disease can attack the motor neurons in our spinal cord that control our movement. This can result in a serious neurological condition called acute flaccid myelitis, which causes muscle weakness and, in rare cases, can lead to permanent paralysis.

“According to data available from the nonprofit WastewaterSCAN, the EV-D68 virus is now being detected at medium levels in 323 of 429 samples nationwide over the last 10 days,” Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, told Newsweek.

Across California, medium rates of EV-D68 have been detected around the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los …