TY - JOUR AU - Walker, Liz AU - Thorley, Bruce AU - Morris, Anne AU - Elliott, Elizabeth AU - Saul, Nathan AU - Britton, Philip T1 - Using the Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance System to Identify Cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis, Australia, 2000‒2018 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2022 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 20 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Since 2012, the United States has reported a distinct syndrome of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with anterior myelitis, predominantly in children. This polio-like syndrome was termed acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Australia routinely conducts AFP surveillance to exclude poliomyelitis. We reviewed 915 AFP cases in Australia for children <15 years of age during 2000‒2018 and reclassified a subset to AFM by using the US Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists case definition. We confirmed 37 AFM cases by using magnetic resonance imaging findings and 4 probable AFM cases on the basis of cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis. Nonpolio enteroviruses were detected in 33% of AFM cases from which stool samples were tested. Average annual AFM incidence was 0.07 cases/100,000 person-years in children <15 years of age. AFM occurred sporadically in Australia before 2010 but regularly since then, indicating sustained, albeit rare, clinical manifestation in children. The AFP surveillance system in Australia is well-positioned to identify future AFM cases. KW - acute flaccid myelitis KW - central nervous system infections KW - enterovirus infections KW - enteroviruses KW - viruses KW - poliomyelitis KW - enterovirus A KW - enterovirus D KW - humans KW - acute flaccid paralysis surveillance system KW - Australia DO - 10.3201/eid2801.211690 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/1/21-1690_article ER - End of Reference