AFM Outbreak Anticipated for 2020: Healthcare providers urged to quickly recognize symptoms and hospitalize patients immediately
What
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) anticipates that 2020 will be another outbreak year for acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), an uncommon but serious neurologic condition. According to the latest CDC Vital Signs report, over half of patients with AFM in 2018 – the most recent and largest outbreak of AFM – were admitted to the ICU, and 1 in 4 of those patients required a ventilator. Pediatricians and frontline providers in emergency departments and urgent care centers should be prepared to quickly recognize AFM and immediately hospitalize patients.
Who
CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D.
Thomas Clark, M.D., M.P.H., Pediatrician and CDC Deputy Director of the Division of Viral Diseases
When
Tuesday, August 4, at 12:00 p.m. ET
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TRANSCRIPT
A transcript will be available following the briefing at CDC’s web site: www.cdc.gov/media.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety, and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.
