Acute Flaccid Myelitis-Possible Link with Electro-Magnetism? A Hypothesis Stimulating Study

Abstract

“Wonder grows when knowledge fails” (Francis Bacon 1561-1626) A new polio-like condition mainly affecting children (mean 5 years old) is being observed, starting with viral and respiratory symptoms, followed by a demyelination paralysis. Known as Acute Flaccid Myelitis, first identified in 2010 in America, 28% to 95% of cases are associated with Enterovirus EVD68. Yet EVD68 itself was identified decades previously in China and the Netherlands. Prior to hospitalisation some children had no evidence of neurological symptoms, hinting a possible environmental trigger. Acute hospitals have multiple sources of background Electro-Magnetic-Field (EMF), some above recommended safety levels. Hence the hypothesis “Are critical rises in human background electromagnetism, interacting with other environmental factors, possibly a casual factor, in Acute Flaccid Myelitis? “There is evidence that low frequency EFM creates cellular oxidative stress leading to neurodegeneration. Mechanisms are unclear but could ubiquitous background EMF play a role in children’s vulnerability to EVD68? The context of the hypothesis is the evidence of accelerating rates of neurological morbidity in the 21st Century and whether the range and multiplicity of environmental factors are impacting upon an immune-compromised child’s neurology. As health environmental factors were ignored in the past, e.g. smoking and asbestos, another possible environmental linked anomaly is feared, though we note the recent establishment of the UK Acute Flaccid Paralysis Task Force in 2019. This hypothesis, whilst remaining speculative, needs to be refuted through independent research to ensure that AFM is not another children’s neurological condition, which once were rare but now becoming more commonplace.