Scientists hunt for treatment for polio-like illness

Scientists are hunting for ways to treat acute flaccid myelitis, a mysterious polio-like illness that mainly affects kids — but new researchsuggests one potential therapy has come up short. It’s not clear what causes AFM, but some research suggests a virus called EV-D68 might be behind the condition. Researchers hoped that fluoxetine — which treats EV-D68 — might be a possible treatment. So they combed through existing data on 56 kids with AFM, about half of whom received fluoxetine and half of whom didn’t.

There wasn’t any difference in muscle strength between the two groups at their first exams — and seven months out, kids who received fluoxetine actually had slightly less muscle strength. The finding underscores how difficult it is to pinpoint possible treatments for AFM, since scientists still know so little about the disease.