IT’S ONLY A PARTIAL FIX, NOT A CURE, BUT IT’S STILL GOOD NEWS: St. Louis doctors may have found fix for polio-like illness affecting kids across U.S.

His family eventually turned to Dr. Amy Moore, of Washington University in St. Louis. “My goal with the children with AFM was to restore hip stability, and then motion of the upper legs,” she said.

Brandon would receive what doctors say is a first-of-its-kind surgery that allowed him to walk again.

Moore says she’s the only doctor in the U.S. to perform nerve transfers on children’s lower extremities. “I used what they have. They were wiggling their toes, and so I was able to move a nerve that wiggles the toes to the hips.”

Surgeons at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles are also seeing some success with nerve transfer surgery to help children after a bout with AFM.

Fourteen months ago, Moore performed the nerve transfer surgery on Brandon’s leg at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. According to Dr. Moore, children typically respond best to this type of surgery because their nerves grow back more quickly. She said nerve transfers are most successful within nine months of diagnosis.

During last week’s check-up, Brandon was walking again. “It’s been amazing,” he said. “Thanks to Miss Doctor Moore, I can go outside, play with my brothers, play football.” He said now he only uses his wheelchair to play basketball.

The cause of AFM is still unknown, but it seems to develop after a viral illness. According to the CDC, nearly 400 people have been diagnosed since 2014.

I don’t like it, and wish it would go away.