Cases of a cold-like virus that can cause scary polio-like symptoms are on the rise across the country, making headlines as well as making parents nervous. The virus is called accute flaccid myelitis, and the Centers for Disease Control says there have been 38 cases reported this year, with a frighteningly high amount of those—twenty—in Colorado. Six cases have also been reported in Minnesota, including seven-year-old Quinton Hill from Lakeville, who is now home from the hospital and in therapy for weakened muscles. You can see Quinton’s story and hear from his parents below:
One Chicago toddler, Julia Payne, aged 2, has also been hospitalized for acute flaccid myelitis since September 5th, according to Fox 32 Chicago. Her mom, Katy Payne, told the news station that “She became paralyzed when we were in the hospital so I noticed it when they sat her up to do an x-ray and her head, she couldn’t keep it up and she’s two. She hasn’t done that since she was a baby.”