(Daily Mail)
Furious mothers of children who have been left partially disabled and fully paralyzed by the polio-like illness of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) have blasted the CDC for failing to act - and say they warned the organization that 2018 was going to be the worst year yet.
Several parents of children who were diagnosed with the illness up to four years ago have spoken to DailyMail.com and revealed their anger that more has not been done to educate doctors and stop the illness in its tracks.
This year the number of cases reached its highest yet with 341 children taken ill across 39 states - 186 of those cases have so far been confirmed with investigations underway on the rest.
That is a steady climb from the 35 confirmed in 2017, 149 in 2016, 22 in 2015 and 120 in 2014.
The illness appears to surge every other year with every resurgence worst than the last.
More than 17 countries have reported the odd AFM case, however, only the US has biannual surges and now experts are warning ahead for 2020.
The disease has been likened to polio, which struck tens of thousands of children a year in the US before its vaccine was introduced in the 1950s. However, this virus is not thought to be responsible for the outbreaks.
It may be caused by the EV-D68 virus, which is a distant relative of polio and coincided with many cases in 2014. Read more